To forestall violence between its two allies along the border it has helped clear of IS militants, Washington has upped its involvement in this part of Syria.
U.S. flags fluttered on the back of coalition armored vehicles as they whizzed past tiny hamlets in northeastern Syria. Once part of the sprawling territories controlled by the Islamic State group, the areas are now under threat of an attack from Turkey, which considers these villages' liberators, the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish-led forces, to be terrorists.
"We have no problem with the security mechanism to secure our areas," said Kurdish commander Khalil Khalfo, the head of the newly established Military Council of Tal Abyad, which is under civil administration. He has 500 fighters in his group, mostly from the Syrian Democratic Forces and its core People's Protection Units, or YPG, which he is expected to replace. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group because of its links to Kurdish insurgents inside Turkey.
The Kurdish-led forces have also withdrawn heavy weapons— vehicles mounted with machine guns and mortar launchers— from the borders. Turkey refers to the area as a"safe-zone" and wants no presence for Syrian Kurdish fighters along the 50-mile stretch. It says Turkish soldiers should be in charge of the safe zone, which it says should be at least 30 kilometers deep, in some cases more. That would mean taking up most of the Kurdish-majority urban centers as well as border areas.Washington and the Kurdish-led forces say a"security mechanism" is taking shape.
A few miles from the base, the armored vehicles and the SDF coordinator stopped to check a deep trench on the left side of the road. Coordinates shared by Turkey with U.S. troops identified the depression as a possible threat, the SDF commander said. On close inspection, it was clear the trench was more like a bunker, prepared for civilians to take cover in case of an attack.
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