Faruk Zorlu
June 19, 2018•Update: June 19, 2018
By Hakan Copur and Faruk Zorlu
WASHINGTON
The U.S.-led anti-Daesh Coalition has confirmed that French Special Forces are cooperating with the PYD/PKK-led SDF terror group in Dashisha town in northeastern Syria.
In a statement Saturday on its official Twitter account, the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) shared a photo showing French soldiers firing howitzers at Daesh targets in Syria.
In a caption beneath the photo, CJTF–OIR said: “Phase two of Operation Roundup, which began on June 3, targets the area in and around Dashisha, Syria.”
CJTF-OIR thus admitted that French Special Forces are fighting alongside the PYD/PKK-led SDF terror group.
The terror group has gained ground through offensive operations coupled with precision coalition strike support in Operation Roundup, which was launched on May 1 by CJTF–OIR, according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s website.
“For the first time in four years, Dashisha, a notorious transit town for weapons, fighters, and suicide bombers between Iraq and Syria, is no longer controlled by ISIS terrorists,” Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS [Daesh], said Monday on Twitter.
“Significant progress by SDF over the last 72 hours. More to come...”
The U.S. has supported the YPG/PKK under the name SDF, which is considered by Ankara as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror organization that has waged a more-than-30-year war against the Turkish state.
- France-PKK/YPG terrorist cooperation uncovered by Anadolu Agency
According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency on March 30 from local sources, more than 70 French special forces under the international coalition against Daesh are stationed at the Lafarge Cement factory near the strategic Mistanur Hill and Harab-Isk village in southern Ayn al-Arab province (Kobani).
Apart from these special forces, the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment and the 10th Parachute Commando forces operate in the region.
Although these forces appear to be stationed in Iraq, they cross into northern Syria through the Simelka gate at the Iraq-Syria border. Local sources noted there has been increased activity over the past three days by these forces at the crossing.
French construction company Lafarge opened the cement factory in northern Syria in 2010.
It was revealed that since the second year of the Syrian civil war, the company had been bribing the Daesh terrorist organization for 16 months in order to continue its activities.
Later, the U.S.-funded YPG/PKK seized the factory, which had previously been seized by Daesh, to use as its base.
