{"id":30352,"date":"2018-10-24T15:23:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T15:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/24\/us-troops-in-syria-take-take-fire-from-turkish-proxy-fighters\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:24:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:24:02","slug":"us-troops-in-syria-take-take-fire-from-turkish-proxy-fighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2018\/10\/24\/us-troops-in-syria-take-take-fire-from-turkish-proxy-fighters\/","title":{"rendered":"US troops in Syria take fire from Turkish proxy fighters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A U.S. patrol came under fire in the Syrian region of Manbij<\/a>, allegedly from Turkey\u2019s local proxy forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American officials with Operation Inherent Resolve<\/a> confirmed to Military Times that coalition forces exchanged fire with an unknown armed group on Oct. 15 near Manbij \u2014 a region in northern Syria that has stoked tension between the U.S. and Turkey, both NATO allies, over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTroops were on a patrol with Manbij Civil Council and received gunfire from an unknown source,” Army Col. Sean Ryan, spokesman for the Inherent Resolve coalition to defeat the Islamic State, told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was over quickly and a reminder to stay vigilant,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan said the coalition patrols in Manbij do not often receive fire. He also did not confirm whether those firing at the Americans were Turkey\u2019s proxy forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cManbij has been relatively safe but it is still Syria, and a lot of malign actors are looking to cause trouble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Syrian Kurdish journalist Hosheng Hesen posted a video of the skirmish on his Twitter account. He wrote a caption stating that the video shows a clash between U.S. troops and armed rebel factions sponsored by Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Inherent Resolve confirmed <\/a>to Military Times that coalition forces have received fire from suspected Turkish-supported groups sporadically over the time they have been patrolling near Manbij.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless, Ryan said he didn\u2019t expect this incident to derail efforts to cool tensions between Turkey and the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manbij has been a flash point in relations between the U.S. and Turkey, with coalition troops caught in the middle of a geopolitical rivalry between the two NATO allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inherent Resolve coalition forces, including U.S. and French troops<\/a>, have been patrolling Manbij over the past year, amid Turkish demands for the withdrawal of the People\u2019s Protection Units, or YPG, a Kurdish militia that dominates the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and helped expel ISIS from the area in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey views YPG fighters as terrorists because of their links to the ongoing Kurdish insurgency in southeastern Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to defuse tensions with Turkey, U.S. officials reached an agreement on a Manbij roadmap<\/a> to determine how the area would be governed that involves the departure of YPG fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since June, troops from the two countries have been conducting \u201ccoordinated independent patrols<\/a>\u201d along the demarcation line north of Manbij. And training for actual joint patrols between U.S. and Turkish troops is also underway, Pentagon officials told reporters this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\t