Syria regime army deploys in Kurdish-held Manbij to avert Turkish offensive

The announcement came moments after the Kurds, left exposed by a US pledge to pull out its own troops, asked for the regime's help to face a threatened Turkish offensive.

The Syrian regime army spokesman said the national flag was raised in Manbij, a key city which lies about 30 kilometres south of the Turkish border.

More than 300 regime forces deployed in the Manbij area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based war monitor stressed however that regime troops had mostly moved into areas around the city, inside which US and French forces are still believed to be stationed.

The People's Protection Units (YPG), the main Kurdish militia in Syria, made its appeal following a shock announcement by its US ally last week of a full troop withdrawal from Syria.

The YPG asked regime forces to deploy in areas it already withdrew from earlier this year, especially the Manbij area, a key city where US-led coalition forces are stationed.

"We invite the Syrian government forces... to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, in particularly Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion," the statement said.

Kurdish fighters still based there are part of the coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance battling the Islamic State group.

The Syrian entry into Manbij comes a day before Moscow is to host top Turkish officials to discuss the crisis in Syria after the United States announced it will withdraw its troops from the country.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday described the developments in Manbij as a "positive step" that could help "stabilize the situation."

Turkey has taken part in two major operations in northern Syria since Kurdish forces took control of border areas, but has not gone east of the river to avoid direct confrontation with US forces.

Kurdish forces control around 30 percent of Syria's territory, mostly in the oil-rich eastern region.

Turkey warns against 'provocations'

The deployment creates a regime buffer arching across northern Syria that fully separates the Turkish army and its proxies from the Kurds.

Turkey reacted to the deployment by warning "all sides to stay away from provocative actions" while a large convoy of its Syrian auxiliaries were seen moving closer to the western edge of Manbij later on Friday.

Turkey said the Syrian Kurdish militia "controlling the area with arms does not have the right or power to make a statement or invite other elements on behalf of the local population," the defence ministry said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul that there was "nothing certain there" in Manbij after he had discussions with intelligence officials.

He dismissed the Syrian regime's actions as an attempt to use "psychological" warfare.

Later on Friday, the US-led coalition denied that there were changes to the military deployment in Syria's Kurdish-held Manbij, refuting the Syrian regime's account that its troops had entered the town.

"Despite incorrect information about changes to the military forces in Manbij city, (the US-led coalition) has seen no indication of these claims being true," US Central Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Earl Brown said.

Brown called on all parties to respect the "integrity of Manbij and the safety of its citizens."

Agencies contributed to this report.

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