War in Syria: US-backed forces say will cede territory to regime

US-backed Syrian fighters said yesterday they would cede several northern villages to government forces as part of a deal brokered by regime ally Russia to avoid conflict with Turkey.

The surprise announcement marks the first time that US-supported fighters will cede territory to forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Manbij Military Council -- part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces -- said government troops would control a buffer zone between it and Turkey-backed rebels.

"We in the Manbij Military Council announce that we agreed with Russia to hand over villages on the front line with Euphrates Shield... to the border guards of the Syrian state," the group said.

It said the territory to be handed over lay between Manbij and the town of Al-Bab, which the Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield fighters captured last week from the Islamic State group.

The Syrian border guards "will protect the line dividing the Manbij Military Council and the areas under the control of the Turkish army and Euphrates Shield," the statement said.

Launched in August, Turkey's incursion into Syria aims to counter both IS and the SDF, which is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as "terrorists".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the next target after Al-Bab would be Manbij -- a former bastion of IS that is now under the SDF's control.

Euphrates Shield fighters launched their drive for Manbij on Wednesday, initially seizing two villages east of Al-Bab from the SDF's Manbij Military Council.

But by yesterday, the SDF had regained the territory.

One SDF fighter and two Turkish-backed rebels were killed in the fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The profusion of forces operating in Syria has led to a deeply complex battlefield and on Wednesday a US general said Russian warplanes had mistakenly bombed SDF fighters in several northern villages.