Syrian Observatory: SDF captures Syria’s Ras al-Ain

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) recaptured on Tuesday Syria’s Ras al-Ain, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reported, following heavy clashes with Turkish forces in the area.

Syrian regime troops entered the key Syrian city of Manbij, state news agency SANA said on Monday, after Damascus deployed troops to the country’s north to contain a days-long Turkish offensive.

A local official in Manbij, controlled by a military council linked to the Kurdish administration, confirmed that troops had “entered (Manbij) and deployed on frontlines.”

The Syrian army had dispatched a limited number of troops around Manbij last year at the request of Kurdish forces to protect the area from a feared Turkish assault.

US President Donald Trump on Monday demanded Turkey stop its military incursion in Syria and imposed new sanctions on the NATO ally as Trump scrambled to limit the damage from his much-criticized decision to clear US troops from Turkey’s path.

The Turkish military offensive in Syria has displaced at least 160,000 civilians, the UN secretary general said on Monday in a statement urging an “immediate de-escalation.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is gravely concerned over the military developments in northeast Syria,” the statement said.