Local community in Manbij protests YPG presence

The local Arab community in northern Syria's Manbij protested against the PKK's Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG), for its oppressive measures, including the forcible recruitment of civilians as soldiers.

In clashes that erupted between YPG terrorists and young people from the local Arab community, YPG terrorists fired guns into the air to disperse the crowd protesting the group's oppressive practices against civilians in the region.

Last December, Arab tribes in Manbij called on the local community to resist the YPG's oppressive measures.

Manbij town and its surrounding area have been controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the YPG terrorist group, since August 2016 after the ousting of Deash. Daesh had captured the town from the moderate opposition in January 2014. Manbij is one of the two areas controlled by the SDF/YPG on the right bank of the Euphrates River, with the other area being in central Syria, including the town of Tabqah. Turkey, however, strongly opposes the YPG's presence in Manbij, which has been a major sticking point in the strained relations between Turkey and the U.S., due to the latter's support for the YPG under the pretext of fighting Daesh. The YPG has organic organizational and operational links with the PKK, a group considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., the EU and Turkey. The U.S. has provided military training and given truckloads of military support to the YPG, despite its NATO ally's security concerns. To reduce tensions, Turkey and the U.S. in June 2018 agreed on a road map foreseeing the withdrawal of the YPG from Manbij and installing joint Turkish-American patrols, which began in November. However, the process has been sluggish as the terrorist group was still present in the city despite the three-month timetable set for the implementation of the deal.