{"id":52611,"date":"2019-10-17T00:20:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T00:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/17\/us-led-coalition-continues-withdrawal-as-syrian-forces-enter-key-border-town-blocking-turkish-plans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:55:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:55:29","slug":"us-led-coalition-continues-withdrawal-as-syrian-forces-enter-key-border-town-blocking-turkish-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/17\/us-led-coalition-continues-withdrawal-as-syrian-forces-enter-key-border-town-blocking-turkish-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"US-led coalition continues withdrawal as Syrian forces enter key border town, blocking Turkish plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CEYLANPINAR, Turkey \u2014 Syrian forces on Wednesday night rolled into the strategic border town of Kobani, blocking one path for the Turkish military<\/a> to establish a \u201csafe zone\u201d free of Syrian Kurdish fighters along the frontier as part of its week-old offensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seizure of Kobani by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad<\/a> also pointed to a dramatic shift in northeastern Syria: The town was where the United States military and Kurdish fighters first united to defeat the Islamic State group four years ago and holds powerful symbolism for Syrian Kurds and their ambitions of self-rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The convoys of government forces drove into Kobani after dark, a resident said. The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, was one of the few remaining amid fears of a Turkish attack on the town. Syria\u2019s state-run media confirmed its troops entered the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syria\u2019s presence in Kobani puts a firm limit on Turkish ambitions in its offensive. The town lies between a Turkish-controlled enclave farther west and smaller areas to the east that Turkey seized in the past week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey had talked of creating a 30-kilometer (19-mile) deep \u201csafe zone,\u201d driving out Kurdish fighters from the border region. Turkish forces had shelled Kobani in recent days as part of the offensive but had not advanced ground troops on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The battle for Kobani turned the once-nondescript town into a centerpiece of the international campaign against IS, with TV cameras flocking to the Turkish side of the border to track the plumes of smoke rising from explosions in the besieged town. Then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declared it would be \u201cmorally very difficult\u201d not to help Kobani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IS extremists were finally driven out in early 2015 in their first major defeat, and an alliance was cemented that would eventually bring down the group\u2019s \u201ccaliphate\u201d in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the Kurdish authority agreed to allow Damascus to deploy its military in the town and other parts of northeast Syria to protect them from Turkey\u2019s offensive launched after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled back American troops <\/a>working with the Kurds.<\/p>\n\n\n\t