US: Pentagon says YPG not part of Manbij roadmap

By Kasim Ileri

WASHINGTON

A U.S. military spokesman said Tuesday Washington is sticking to its agreement with Turkey on a roadmap for the northern Syrian city of Manbij, and not including the PKK/YPG.

Speaking via video conferencing at a news conference at the Pentagon, Col. Sean J. Ryan, the spokesman for the U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force, emphasized there are little elements of the YPG left in the area.

"As far as I'm tracking, there's very little YPG if any at all. And we are adhering to that agreement that the YPG will not be part of Manbij," Ryan told Anadolu Agency.

He also highlighted the success of coordinated patrols between Washington and Ankara, which he said have routed any Daesh elements from the region.

Both countries conducted more than 40 rounds of separate coordinated patrols in the region between areas liberated by Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield and Manbij, according to Turkish officials.

Separate patrols by Turkish and U.S. troops in the region began June 18, however, joint patrols have yet to be conducted.

In response to a question by Anadolu Agency, the spokesman said training is ongoing for these joint patrols, but there is no timeline on when it will start.

"There's stability there, the shops are open, people are moving around freely, very few signs of any ISIS [Daesh] or any other malign actors in that area," Ryan added.

Ryan went on to say in the Manbij agreement to issue the joint patrols, the remaining YPG elements within the area would need to leave the city.

The YPG is a Syrian branch of the terrorist organization PKK and the focus of Turkey's counter-terrorist Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria, near the border with Turkey.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including those of women and children.

*Umar Farooq contributed to this story