US, France troops could secure Syria's northern border, Syrian Kurdish official says

Talks are taking place on whether US and French troops could secure a border zone in northern Syria as part of efforts to defuse conflict between Turkiye and Western-backed Kurdish Syrian forces, a senior Syrian Kurdish official said, Reuters reports. Ankara has warned that it will carry out a cross-border offensive into north-eastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia if the group does not meet Turkish demands. Turkiye regards the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist group linked to Kurdish PKK militants who for 40 years have waged an insurgency against the Turkish state. The SDF played an important role in defeating Daesh militants in Syria in 2014-17. The group still guards Daesh fighters […]