Turkey-backed FSA and YPG conflict unearths clash between 2 US institutions, report says


Northern Syria has become a conflict zone for two American institutions due to them supporting different groups fighting each other in the fight against DAESH, a report from The New York Times claimed.The report stated that the PKK's Syrian affiliate Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed-wing People's Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian moderate opposition forces, which is also supported by Turkey, were pitted against each other, and are respectively working with the Pentagon and the CIA.Indicating that the U.S. has balanced its support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the YPG militants, by warning them last week that "they should return to the eastern side of the Euphrates River, essentially asking them to cede control of areas" which were seized from DAESH."But it is unclear what the United States will do if its allies continue to fight each other," the report said.The Pentagon called the clashes "unacceptable" and urged an immediate de-escalation. Washington condemned the weekend clashes as "unacceptable".Turkey and the groups it supported are waging a war in northern Syria after purging DAESH from Jarablus. Turkish jets pounded YPG targets on Sunday and announced that 25 terrorists were killed in the villages located in southern Jarablus.Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011, the U.S. administration has supported the Free Syrian Army (FSA). With the rise of DAESH, Washington also decided to back the YPG in the fight against the terrorist organization. But this step has caused surprise in Ankara due to the backed group's close affiliation to the PKK, which conducted a bloody campaign in Turkey for more than three decades.The two groups were in several clashes across the war-torn territory for five years.