Daesh terror network reportedly began withdrawing from Jarablus in northern Syria's Aleppo province on Thursday noon after the U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish Arab fighters wrested control of Munbij; the second largest town in Aleppo.
It has been reported that Daesh terrorists withdrew from at least four villages on the northern side of Sajur River between Munbij and Jarablus. Local sources later said that Daesh pulled back from the villages of Amarna, Kose, Keknece, Jamil, Tasatan, and the lower part of Jarablus. Daesh groups, pulled out of these six regions, have reportedly deployed in al-Bab and Aktarin villages.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is expected to run over al-Bab, which is seen as the last target they will seize, before marching to Jarablus as part of a strategy to expand the federal system, declared on March 17 in the areas that Syrian Kurds control in northern Syria
Jarablus, which lies on the western bank of the Euphrates, is a key point combining the non-contiguous zones in the territory that Kurds already hold in northern Syria. Thousands of residents, who did not leave their home in Jarablus, situated just on the other side of Turkey's Karkamış border crossing, are seriously concerned about the escalation of fighting in their land, still home to more than 25,000 civilians.
As part of a U.S.-backed strategy, PYD and its allied forces in SDF need to take Jarablus and move to the western side of the Euphrates in order to reach the Azaz-Marea line by crossing a 90-km long line from Jarablus to Marea.
If this scenario achieves its aim, Saleh Muslim, the leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), could ensure firm control along the 500 km-long stretch of the Turkish-Syrian border, which he already controls a 400 km-long stretch. This strategy means a major concern for the Turkish government.
Authorities in Ankara are concerned that this strategy might line the opposite side of Turkey's southern border with a hostile Kurdish state, which will use its territory as a springboard to undermine the country's security. Turkey has been alarmed by both Daesh's moves near the Syrian towns of Azaz and Marea and the enlargement of northern Kurdish enclaves under the control of the PYD along its 900-km long border line with Syria. Ankara says any incursion west of the Euphrates River in northern Syria by PKK's Syrian offshoot will amount to a breach of its red line.
There has been a rift between Ankara and Washington about the PYD's status. Authorities in Ankara designate the People's Protection Units (YPG) and its political parent PYD as a terrorist organization, due to the groups' close ties to the separatist Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) which has carried out a decades-long armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in the Southeast. However, the U.S. considers PYD as a key partner in its fight against Daesh.
Although there was no assault to prompt an immediate withdrawal from the region it already controls, Daesh's decision to withdraw from Jarablus and its nearby villages is assessed as an output of a possible secret alliance between the trio of PYD, Daesh and Washington.
The moderate Syrian group's accomplishment to retake al-Rai town (Çobanbey) on Thursday is another reason which accelerated Daesh's withdrawal, Syrian Turkmen sources said. It was serving as the main Daesh stronghold in the countryside of Aleppo until it was captured by the opposition groups. Al-Rai was among the first towns seized by the extremist group during its campaign in 2015. Al-Rai is strategically important as it is a point equidistant to Azaz, Marea, Jarablus and Munbij towns. It is close to the Turkish border and is a key supply route into the territory where Daesh began withdrawing without fighting.
Syrian Turkmens strongly believe that there has been a growing possibility of sparking a fresh conflict between the moderate fighters and PYD-dominated Kurdish groups in a short term, as long as SDF continues to advance to Jarablus with the support of the U.S military. The opposition groups deployed in northern Syria, all of whom are moderate fighters, suggest the imminent battle with Saleh Muslim's group is significant enough to impact the fate of war-torn country.
