Turkish-backed Syrian rebels 'aim to take Manbij' from Kurds

Syrian rebels have said that they aim to caputure Manbij from US-backed Kurdish forces as they continue to make gains against the Syrian Democratic Forces with the help of Turkey.   

Ankara and Syrian rebels accuses the YPG of failing to stick to a promise made by its US allies that the militia would move back east across the Euphrates following the seizure of the town of Manbij from the Islamic State earlier this month.

The YPG, however, has said its fighters have withdrawn from the targeted area.

Colonel Ahmed Osman, head of the Sultan Murad rebel group, told Reuters that the Turkey-backed rebel force was "certainly heading in the direction of Manbij" since YPG forces had fortified their positions rather than evacuate.

The news comes after Syrian rebels captured two villages from Kurdish forces and the SDF in northern Syria on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The SDF had reportedly withdrawn from the villages of al-Amarna and Ayn al-Bayda as the rebels backed by Turkish tanks that advanced into them on Saturday.  

The SDF includes the Kurdish YPG, one of the stated targets of Turkey's intervention in the Syrian war, as they are reportedly allied to the PKK.  

The Hurriyet daily had reported earlier that the Turkish armed forces had 50 tanks and 380 personnel on the ground in Syria while Turkish troops are supporting an even larger force of hundreds of Syrian rebels.

A Syrian rebel commander said the rebels had also captured the village of Dabis.

The Turkish military launched an operation codenamed "Euphrates Shield" inside Syria earlier this week to oust IS from the border region and also counter advances by a Kurdish militia detested by Ankara.

The Hurriyet daily had reported earlier that the Turkish armed forces had 50 tanks and 380 personnel on the ground in Syria while Turkish troops are supporting an even larger force of hundreds of Syrian rebels.