The U.S.-backed Syria Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – which is an umbrella organization that includes the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian affiliates, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Protection Units (YPG) – said Sunday that they have formed a joint center with the Iraqi army to protect the Syrian-Iraqi border region after ousting Daesh terrorists.
Senior SDF members met with Iraqi military leaders and "discussed protecting the Syrian-Iraqi border in the region adjacent to Deir ez-Zor province, and how to finally eradicate Daesh mercenaries there," the SDF said in a statement.
"The two sides decided to form a joint coordination center to guarantee the security of the border," the statement continued.
Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian offshoots of the PKK, a jointly designated terrorist organization by the U.S., Turkey and the EU.
However, Washington has adamantly resisted similarly recognizing the PYD/YPG, using it as a principal partner in the fight on the ground against Daesh in northern Syria.
The U.S. providing weapons to the YPG has been adversely affecting relations between the two countries. While the U.S. insists that supporting the YPG is the only option to defeat Daesh, Ankara says an alternative can be found with local Arab tribes backed by countries in the region instead of supporting and arming one terrorist group against another.
Col. Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for the coalition, also confirmed that Iraqi security forces and the SDF had linked up at their shared stretch of the frontier on Sunday.
"Secure international border protects Iraqis [and] Syrians from remnant Daesh movement into [and] across the region as terrorist fighters/leaders attempt to flee the battlefield," he wrote on Twitter.
The PYD's legitimization through receiving such power, despite being a terrorist organization, is highly criticized by both the Syrian opposition and other Kurdish groups in the area.
The PYD is known for shooting civilians who were peacefully protesting the group's unlawful restrictions for those returning home, showing that it is no different from Daesh.
In August, at least three civilians were killed and six others injured in an attack carried out by PYD militants in Syria's northern Aleppo province. In July, four civilians were killed and 20 others injured in an overnight attack by the PYD in Marea.
Earlier in June, a video showing PKK/PYD terrorists torturing civilians in northeastern Syria's Raqqa was obtained by Anadolu Agency (AA). The footage showed two terrorists beating up tied-up civilians in Mansura, western Raqqa.
It was also reported that U.S. forces recently intervened as the PYD militants plundered civilian homes in Raqqa. A confrontation occurred between locals and some members of the terrorist group due to their unlawful practices.
Last week, the U.S.-backed SDF declared that it eradicated Daesh terrorists in Syria's Deir ez-Zor, which borders Iraq. The offensive focused on seizing territory east of the Euphrates River that bisects the oil-rich province.
On the other side, Iraqi forces recaptured the last swathes of territory still under Daesh control along the frontier with Syria on Saturday and secured the western desert. It marked the end of the war against Daesh, three years after they overran nearly a third of Iraq's territory.