Russia Says It Will Retaliate Against U.S.-Backed Forces in Syria

Russia said on Thursday that it would target positions held by a Washington-backed militia in east Syria if its forces come under fire by the group, Reuters reported.

Russian special forces supporting Syrian government loyalists are only miles away from the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Ezzor, stronghold of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS). They are fighting simultaneous but separate campaigns against the militant group.

Russia has accused the SDF of opening fire on Syrian troops and allied forces on the eastern bank of the Euphrates twice over the past week.

Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday that any more “attempts to open fire from areas where SDF fighters are located would be quickly shut down.”

“Fire points in those areas will be immediately suppressed with all military means,” the statement read.

In an attempt to prevent an outbreak of clashes, U.S. and Russian generals held a face-to-face meeting to discuss operations in Deir Ezzor this week, Agence France-Presse reported.

“The discussions emphasized the need to share operational graphics and locations to ensure … prevention of accidental targeting or other possible frictions that would distract from the defeat of ISIS,” Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said in comments carried by AFP.

Erdogan: Turkey to Deploy Troops Inside Idlib

Turkish troops will be deployed in the rebel-held province of Idlib to enforce a de-escalation agreement in the area, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters on Thursday.

“Under the agreement, Russians are maintaining security outside Idlib, and Turkey will maintain the security inside Idlib region,” Erdogan said in an interview. “The task is not easy … With Putin we will discuss additional steps needed to be taken in order to eradicate terrorists once and for all to restore peace.”

Moscow, Tehran and Ankara agreed last week to deploy observers to prevent fighting between pro-government forces and Syrian rebels in Idlib province. Representatives of the three states who attended talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Friday said that their observers would be positioned in “safe zones” established on the border of the Idlib de-escalation zone.

On Sunday, Turkey deployed 80 military vehicles to its southern border with Syria, ahead of the implementation of the de-escalation zone agreement. A convoy of 18 Turkish army vehicles, including tanks, arrived in areas close to the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the border with Idlib province. Another batch of vehicles arrived at the Rihaniyah border crossing.

Syria’s Kurds to Hold First Round of Three-Part Vote

Kurdish-held regions of northern Syria are set to hold the first round of a three-phase election on Friday, as part of a plan to set up a federal system of government, Reuters reported.

In the first round of voting on Friday, residents will pick leaders for some 3,700 communities spread across three regions of Kurdish-held northern Syria.

But not all Kurdish-held areas will be allowed to vote, senior Kurdish politician Hadiya Yousef told Reuters. Elections will not take place in the city of Manbij, which is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, or in areas recently liberated from the so-called Islamic State near the city of Raqqa, she said.

The second round of voting will take place in November with the election of local councils, and the final stage is expected to take place in January with the election of a local assembly that will act as a parliament, Reuters said.

The Syrian government is opposed to elections, but Yousef told Reuters that Friday’s elections will serve as a message to the government in Damascus.

“It is a message to the Syrian regime that we as the Syrian people have will and want our will to be represented in the election of our administration to run our regions and societies,” she said.

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