Helped by Russian warplanes, Kurds advance in northern Aleppo

Under the cover of the Russian airstrikes, Kurdish fighters affiliate with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party gained control of a number of villages and neighbourhoods north of Aleppo over the past few days, Syrian opposition sources told the Anadolu Agency yesterday.

Senior opposition leader Murad Abu-Ibrahim Al-Taweel from the Syrian town of Azaz told Anadolu that the Kurdish units “exploited the involvement of the opposition in the battles with the regime and attacked its strategic bases near Azaz and controlled” a number of villages and towns.

Al-Taweel reiterated that the Kurdish attacks “were covered by the daily Russian strikes on the opposition bases in Azaz,” noting that these forces turned to Menagh Military Airport, seven kilometres south, aiming to control it. “Clashes are going on currently around the airport,” he said.

“During the time [of the attacks on opposition bases], Daesh did not lose any of its bases and maintained its control over the villages run by its members,” he explained.

General Ahmed Al-Rahhal, who defected from the Syrian army, told Anadoluthat “the biggest beneficiary from the ongoing battles in the northern Aleppo countryside are the Kurdish military units.”

Al-Rahhal noted that these units are expanding their control, preparing for their national project, which is “the establishment of their claimed state on the Syrian-Turkish borders.”

He also pointed out that these units aim to control Menagh Military Airport to make it a base to supply their operation, with the support of Russia and the United State, in order to connect the areas under their control in the northeastern and northwestern parts of Aleppo’s countryside.