US CENTCOM Commander Erik Kurilla pays visit to north-eastern Syria

Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, last Wednesday paid a visit to north-eastern Syria, Anadolu News Agency reports.

In a written statement, CENTCOM said Saturday: “General Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, Commander of the US Central Command, travelled to north-east Syria to speak with American troops and visit sites critical to the ongoing effort to ensure thee during defeat of ISIS.”

This was his sixth visit to Syria in the past 11 months, according to the statement.

READ: US investors warn Israel judicial overhaul will prevent future investments

The statement said that Kurilla also “visited the SDF, the US partner force” and it claimed that the PKK terror group’s Syria extension SDF “conducts daily missions against ISIS.”

The US has partnered with the YPG-led SDF in its efforts to counter Daesh in north-eastern Syria, drawing Ankara’s anger in a major strain on bilateral relations.

Kurilla, according to the written statement, paid a visit to “a detention facility for ISIS fighters in Hasakah” – the region currently occupied by the YPG/PKK terror group – adding that Raj and Hol Camps where families of Daesh terrorists are being held.

Recently, on 4 March, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, visited the regions occupied by the YPG/PKK terror group in north-eastern Syria.

Over Milley’s visit, Turkiye demanded an explanation for his visit to regions occupied by the YPG/PKK terror group in north-eastern Syria.

US Ambassador to Ankara, Jeff Flake, had been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry over the visit.

READ: UNHCR: Level of earthquake destruction ‘apocalyptic’