Operation Euphrates Shield expands
Evidence has emerged that pro-Turkish armed forces in the area of the Euphrates Shield military operation are planning to expand the geography of hostilities and reach a bridge near the village of Kara Kozak. If they manage to do this, then the supply lines of the Kurdish armed forces in northern Syria will be cut, and the Kurdish group on the western bank of the Euphrates will be surrounded. Previously, pro-Turkish forces had already captured bridges across the Euphrates near the village of Jarabulus, and now the bridge near the village of Kara Kozak is the only opportunity to supply Kurdish armed forces and civilians near the city of Manbij with the forces of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. If the pro-Turkish armed forces are able to implement their plan, the Kurds who find themselves on the western bank of the Euphrates will have no other opportunity to survive except to reach an agreement with the legitimate Syrian government in order to arrange supplies of food, water and medicine from territories controlled by the legitimate to the Syrian government. Given the insistence with which the Turkish government intends to implement its plan, it is better for the Kurdish troops on the west bank of the Euphrates to establish a dialogue with the Assad government now.
