This is the Russians’ kind of war. Front lines, with bulges and pockets to pinch off.
“Front lines, with bulges and pockets to pinch off.”
These tactical bulges and pockets, all part of a larger operation to capture a 50-60 mile wide corridor - the last major supply route from Turkey.
Kurds from Afrin are advancing from the West, the Regime is advancing from the South, but I have not yet seen signs of an expected big Kurdish move from the East (across the Euphrates River).
Their likely target, Manbij, is under increased air attack though - Russian, American and French. Manbij is where the Jihadis established “Little London” where a lot of the “permanent party” foreign jihadis could enjoy marginally better stocked stores, and which was used as the main transit point for new foreign jihadis entering Syria. ISIS has been relocating their prisoners back to Raqaa, in anticipation of Manbij being overrun.
The Kurds coming from the East have to cross a single choke point (the Mishreen Dam) to get over the Euphrates to assault Manbij. If Turkey does invade, they could drive tanks into Manbij in an hour or two (barring Russian air attack), cut them off from retreat back over the dam, and go all General Patton on their rear areas.
So I am not sure if they are being cautious, if they have had delays in getting everything assembled down a single road, if conditions have not yet been set by the air preparation because of priorities elsewhere, or if this was just the plan (to leave some time for the enemy to retreat, or keep them guessing where to reinforce) - but I have not seen reports of the ground offensive kicking off in that sector yet.