27.06.2018, Manbij.
The city of Manbij near Aleppo declared a new people’s intifada against occupation, division or separation of the city from Syria, a representative of “the Manbij people’s resistance” said on June 26, a Syrian source of the Rossa Primavera News Agency reported.
“The city is not for sale or deals. And we, the people of Manbij from Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen and other tribes, the masters of this land, have not allowed and will never allow any foreign, American or French, ‘presence’,” the statement says.
The representative of the movement announced the beginning of an intifada and people’s resistance against any occupation of the city, its splitting into parts or separation from “the Motherland of Syria.” This is the first time such a group as a “people’s resistance” has been announced in the city of Manbij.
A violent armed conflict in Syria has been taking place since 2011. The civil war involves large geopolitical actors as well as international Islamist and nationalist movements. Russia calls for the soonest termination of the armed confrontation and for a political solution for the country, and it supports the Syrian army in its struggle against ISIL (organization banned in Russia) and other terrorist groups, while the USA, apart form the war against terrorist it declares, provides military support to the so-called moderate opposition in its struggle against the legitimate authorities, and it supports the plans of territorial division of Syria. In addition to the USA, Syria is a subject of serious interest for Turkey as well as France which also has military presence in Syria.
The city of Manbij is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces and its subsidiary, the People’s Defense Forces, the military wing of the left-wing Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Turkey believes to be a terrorist group. Turkey cannot tolerate any Kurdish autonomies near its borders as they could become a strong source of temptation for the Kurds living in Turkey. Therefore Turkey has long been threatening to carry out a clearance operation in Manbij if it fails to reach an agreement with the USA to arrange a peaceful withdrawal of Kurdish groups from the city. While the negotiations are on the way, in spring the USA and France deployed their militaries to Manbij.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
