Syria urges "immediate" withdrawal of Turkish

The Syrian Foreign Ministry urged the UN Security Council on Friday to push Turkey to withdraw its forces from northern Syria, state news agency SANA reported.

The ministry branded the Turkish forces as "invading forces" of Syrian territory in the north, saying they should halt aggression "immediately."

The condemnation came a day after the Turkish army fired on Syrian military positions west of the city of Manbij in the northern province of Aleppo, leaving an undisclosed number of military personnel killed or wounded.

The shelling targeted the Syrian border corps, which has recently been deployed in the western countryside of Manbij to separate the Turkish forces and the Kurdish-led groups, which are in control of the city.

Russia and the Kurdish groups in northern Syria recently agreed that the Kurdish-led Manbij Military Council (MMC) should hand over areas in the western countryside of Manbij to the Syrian army, as the Turkish forces and allied rebel groups were closing in on Manbij to dislodge the MMC from the city.

Ankara has recently said it has no problem with the Syrian army taking over Manbij as long as the Kurdish-supported groups are not involved.

Still, the Russian-Kurdish agreement was to give areas west of Manbij to the Syrian army only, as part of what appeared to be a Russian plan to save the area from a Turkish-Kurdish confrontation.

The statement also said many soldiers were killed in the attack, which it described as an attempt to undermine the progress of the Syrian army near Manbij in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo.

It stressed that the war on terror will continue and the Syrian forces will restore peace and stability to Aleppo countryside and all Syrian territories.

The Syrian army is carrying out a crushing offensive against the Islamic State positions in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, and recently reached the town of Khafseh, where water stations feeding Aleppo with drinking water are located.

Source: Xinhua