Syrian Kurdish militia forces took control of rebel-held Menagh military air base in north of Aleppo, it was reported. The air base, only six kilometres from Aleppo's Azez town, was serving as military headquarters to Syrian rebel forces.
The ambition to control the crucial base has often led to clashes between Free Syrian Army (FSA), the largest opposition group fighting in Syria, and the Syrian Army.
Russian planes were conducting heavy strikes near the military base when the People's Protection Unit (YPG) stormed the base to take control. The heaviest strikes have been recorded in Tel Rıfat, a town in northern Aleppo, during a siege on the base.
Meanwhile, YPG-linked armed groups are preparing to launch a fresh offensive on Mumbiç Town, standing on the west bank of the Euphrates River. Local sources warned that armed Kurdish groups have been deployed near the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates, just 90 km east of Aleppo, as part of military preparations.
Earlier this week, The Local Coordination Committee of Syria, a network of local groups reporting or protesting as part of the Syrian uprising, announced that Syrian Army's experts and officials form the PYD's alliance calling itself Democratic Forces of Syria (SDK) agreed to act together in an offensive on the strategically-important air base when they had met in Afrin town. After this meeting, PYD-linked militia have overrun Maranaz village, located in the southwest of Azez, in order to cut the link between two Aleppo towns, Tel Rifat and Azez.
The PYD-linked Kurdish armed groups have tried to march to the area that Turkey wanted to see as safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border between the border town of Jarablus to another town on the border, Marea. Syrian Kurdish militia forces, backed by a US-led coalition, reached an area near the Euphrates after repelling Daesh, which took position in the south of Sırrin village, standing just on the east of Aleppo.
In the aftermath of US air stikes, PYD-linked Democratic Forces of Syria including YPG fighters retook control of Tishrin Dam on the Eupharates in late December. The Dam had been controlled by Daesh since 2014. DSB spokesman Talal Sello said they seized seven villages east of the Eupharates. Kurdish militia is currently deployed in Abu Kalkan village, nine kilometer northeast of the Dam.
The Local Coordination Committee of Syria also announced that 20 US military experts arrived in Kobane to guide PYD's forces in their planned offensive targetting Aleppo's Mumbiç town west of the Euphrates. Before the operation, two US cargo planes airlifted ammunition to PYD-held Kobane on the border with Turkey, according to Committee. The Committee also said that US officials were headed for PYD's positions near Tishtin Dam for the mission.
