BEIRUT (AP) — Turkish-backed fighters said Monday they are preparing to move into eastern Syria alongside Turkish troops once American forces withdraw and are already massing on the front line of a town held by Kurdish-led forces.
The U.S. pullout will leave the oil-rich eastern third of Syria up for grabs. It is currently controlled by Kurdish-led forces that the Americans have backed over the past four years, with multiple parties seeking to move in. They now face a triple threat from the Syrian government, IS and Turkey, which views them as terrorists because of their links to a Kurdish insurgent group inside Turkey.
Youssef Hammoud, spokesman for Turkey-backed Syrian opposition groups, said they have up to 15,000 trained fighters ready to deploy alongside Turkish forces, and they are already preparing to move into Manbij — a Kurdish-administered town in northern Syria where U.S. troops are based.
Hammoud said there is “no alternative” to Turkish forces and their allies replacing U.S troops.
“We are ready to fight Daesh,” said Hammoud, using the Arabic term for the Islamic State group, though IS militants are largely confined to a remote desert enclave hundreds of miles (kilometers) to the southeast of Manbij.
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