Anti-ISIS coalition’s Major General Rupert Jones
Posted on 02/16/2017 3:59:16 PM PST by Texas Fossil
Major General Rupert Jones, UK deputy commander of the Coalition forces against ISIS, said that most likely the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will take Raqqa, and not the Turkey-led groups that are currently fighting in al-Bab.
“The force that looks most likely capable to conduct the liberation of Raqqa remains the SDF. Are we confident in the SDF? Absolutely we are. We’ve seen their fighting spirit, we’ve seen what they’re capable of doing. They re-took Manbij, a very tough fight, and they prevailed in the face of a tough opposition,” Jones said.
“We’ve also always said that we would discuss with our partners in terms of who is best placed to conduct the actual liberation of Raqqa. We’ll do that, we’ll have those conversations,” he added.
The Turkish president Erdogan last week said that after al-Bab, the Turkey-led Euphrates Shield Operation will target SDF-held Manbij and Raqqa.
“We shared our thoughts with the new US administration and CIA and we will follow the developments in line with our stance,” he said.
Moreover, the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak on 10 February reported that the Turks would attack the SDF-held town of Tel Abyad not of Raqqa, and also advance from the side of al-Bab,” in case if Turkey and allied rebels move forward with their Raqqa operation plan.
On Friday, the US chief of staff Gen. Joe Dunford arrives in Turkey to discuss the Raqqa operation with Turkish officials, Reuters reported.
Furthermore, the coalition general Rupert Jones praised the effectiveness of the SDF forces. “We as a coalition have said all along that the [Kurdish-led] Syrian Democratic Forces with the Arabs will fight to isolate Raqqa, and that’s exactly what they’re doing and they’re doing it very effectively,” Jones said.
“They’re pushing the enemy [ISIS] back, they’re writing down the enemy’s capability and they’re closing in as we speak on the city of Raqqa, exactly as they said they would do,” he stated.
“They’re closing in on Raqqa and we’re confident that they’ll be able to retake Raqqa when the time comes, of course with coalition support. That’s what we’re there to do.”
General Jones further said that it’s up to the SDF forces to decide if the People’s Protection Units (YPG) should be included in the fight. “The bulk of the force is advancing on Raqqa are Arabs. But I said the bulk of the forces, not all of the forces,” he said. “The Arabs and the Kurds actually work hand-in-glove, and my expectation is if the SDF are to assault into Raqqa, that is how they’ll operate.”
According to the SDF, nearly 70 per cent of the fighters participating in the Euphrates Wrath Campaign to isolate Raqqa are Arabs. “They’ll work together in concert with each other, but the majority of the fighters will be Arabs and we, the coalition, will be there to support them,” he added.
Since the SDF launched the battle for Raqqa on the 5th of November, they’ve captured more than 3,900 square kilometers of territory as they advance from the north-northwest, and now northeast of Raqqa, the coalition general said.
Anti-ISIS coalition’s Major General Rupert Jones
Turkish army is still in Al Bab.
The commander expressed confidence in the ability of the SDF. I am sure that more support will be brought in to take the actual area of Down Town Raqqa.
Raqqa Ping
So we replaced isis with our rebel jihadis. What a big win. /s
Oh wait I forgot, our Sunni jihadis are like Jefferson and Madison.
They are brave and they will fight. And they are Killing ISIS.
All Kurds are not the same. Some are Muslim, many are not. I do know that the Syrian Kurds do revere Ocalan. And that Ocalan was certainly a terrorist. He has been in prison on an island for 18 years.
I have developed a strong respect for the Syrian Kurds. Am close to a few of them. I trust them.
I cannot say the same thing about Erdogan. He is an Islamist soon to be dictator. He will commit Genocide when he gets to that point. He has ambitions on territory in Iraq and Syria. He does not intend to give any of that up.
We can talk in private some details I won't mention here.
You know I do not have an ounce of Leftism in me.
True, but the article says 70% plus of the force is Arab Sunni. And they aren’t sure yet are going to let kurds fight there. It’s essentially a jihadi Sunni force.
And I fully agree with your characterization of the kurds. People who think they are Marxist are falling for turk propaganda.
YPJ and YPG are not Arab.
SDF is a recent combination. Mostly for the benefit of the Turks who hate the Kurds. They did not want Raqqa taken by the Kurds. They do not want anyone to dare to describe the Kurds as anything more than terrorists. BUT Turkey supported ISIS & Al Qaeda (with Obama) and Turkey palls with 2 other Terrorists groups within their military sphere. Erdogan is a 2 faced liars.
Although the CIA trained some of the Arab “opposition” groups, they were not effective fighters against ISIS. The Kurds would always stand and fight them.
I alluded to another variance in Kurd demographics in the freep mail I sent. There are reasons it is not well know.
PKK once was Marxist. Not so much now.
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