U.S. set up base in Syria's Manbij after Turkish threats: local official

[TomSea]

U.S. set up base in Syria's Manbij after Turkish threats: local official
Reuters Staff

MANBIJ, Syria (Reuters) - U.S. forces set up a new base in Manbij in northern Syria some three months ago after Turkish threats to march on the town, a U.S.-backed militia official there said on Wednesday.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to send troops to Manbij after they expelled the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from the Afrin region, further to the west, in March.

Ankara regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdish PKK, which has waged an insurgency inside Turkey for decades. Turkey has been furious with the United States, its NATO ally, for supporting the YPG in Syria.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-sdf/u-s-set-up-base-in-syrias-manbij-after-turkish-threats-sdf-official-idUSKBN1IA1H4