UPDATE: April 29, 12:42 GMT
A CJTF-OIR spokesperson tells Grasswire that coalition forces are at the Syria-Turkey border.
Coalition forces are conducting joint patrols along the northeastern Syria-Turkey border to assess reports from both the SDF and Turkey regarding skirmishes and cross-border fires between their respective security forces.
The patrols’ purpose is to discourage escalation and violence between two of our most trusted partners in the fight to defeat ISIS and reinforce the Coalition’s commitment to both Turkey and the SDF.
We call on all parties in the region to remain focused on the fight to defeat ISIS, which is the greatest threat to regional and worldwide peace and security.
Coalition spokesperson
Journalists and activists posted images and video of US Stryker armoured vehicles in northern Syria on Friday, April 28, claiming they were near the border with Turkey.
American troops on the border between Rojava and Turkey pic.twitter.com/DJHAOU5qAx
— MOHAMMED HASSAN (@MHJournalist) April 28, 2017
Pentagon spokesperson Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said in a briefing Friday that “The border is among the areas where they operate.”
“Our Syrian Democratic Forces partners that we work with, we operate with them and operate in close proximity. We have US forces that are there throughout the entirety of northern Syria that operate with our Syrian Democratic Forces partners,” Davis said.
American troops on the border between Rojava and Turkey pic.twitter.com/WX6n9ebuMI
— MOHAMMED HASSAN (@MHJournalist) April 28, 2017
Most activists are saying the vehicles are near Darbasiyah (Dirbêsiyê in Kurdish), while others say Tell Abyad (Girê Spî in Kurdish), Ras Al-Ayn (Serêkaniyê in Kurdish) and Qamishli (Qamişlo is Kurdish).
D Abdulkarim Omar, Co-Chair of Foreign Affairs of the Al Jazeera Canton, tweeted: “A delegation of international coalition leaders visited the region of Darbasiyya. They were briefed on the areas bombed by the Turkish army”
This was apparently confirmed by Shervan Derwish, spokesperson for Manbij Military Council, who previously was spokesperson for the SDF.
Derwish told Reuters that US forces were to begin monitoring activity on the Syria-Turkey border and report to senior US commanders. He said the SDF met with US military officials in Darbasiyah on Friday and the officials toured the town.
Grasswire has contacted the Coalition for comment.
The vehicles
We know that Stryker vehicles crewed us US Army Rangers are in northern Syria, but they’ve previously only been seen near Manbij, west of the Euphrates. Activists are claiming that the new imagery is from east of the river, in the area where the Turkish military and the YPG have been exchanging fire for the past couple of days.
Previous imagery of the Strykers shows them painted green. The vehicles in the imagery from April 28 look to have been recently painted.
In one image, a manually controlled Minigun is mounted on the roof of a Stryker. This is a very unusual weapon to be mounted on this vehicle type. Strykers commonly use machine guns or grenade launchers on remote weapons stations, where the gun can be operated from inside the vehicle. This appears to be an on-the-fly addition, although in-theatre modifications aren’t unusual.
A Javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missile is also strapped to the side of the vehicle.
We have say thanks to Abraxas Spa who first pointed out the unusual weaponry.
There is not enough unique visual data that we can find to geo-locate the imagery yet.
[Story developing]
US troops moving to the border between Turkey and YPG held areas in order to stop Turkish aggression. pic.twitter.com/XBLqMY1CS8
— Dr Partizan (@Dr_Partizan) April 28, 2017
US troops monitoring border villages in Dirbêsiyê region. This area has suffered shelling by Turkish army in recent days. pic.twitter.com/aon3hXN66X
— Dr Partizan (@Dr_Partizan) April 28, 2017
وفد من التحالف الدولي يتفقد قرى الدرباسية
Şandeyek ji koalsyona navdewletî gundên dirbêsiyê kontrol dike#NoFlyZone4Rojava pic.twitter.com/zWA0xvOYxz— Hoşeng Hesen (@HosengHesen) April 28, 2017
Şandeyek ji koalsyona navdewletî ya şerê li dijî daiş , gundên dirbêsiyê kontrol dike pic.twitter.com/U79dr43Tlm
— Hoşeng Hesen (@HosengHesen) April 28, 2017
US troops are currently in areas around Derbesiye, Tall Abyad and Ras al-Aynhttps://t.co/CjWNUf1bWP pic.twitter.com/iguwBwwYck
— Syrian Civil War Map (@CivilWarMap) April 28, 2017
US troops visit Dirbisiye today to give message to Turkey not to attack YPG.
— Wladimir (@vvanwilgenburg) April 28, 2017
YouTube video from Turkey-based Qasioun News Agency, but no location given:
US Marine Corps vehicles also filmed
Other video was shared on Twitter purporting to be of French forces in northern Syria. This looks to us like a US Marine Corps convoy.
Footage allegedly of French forces in Northern #Raqqa countryside, supporting the SDF in the war against ISIS terrorists. pic.twitter.com/ahNEEz09I3
— Dr Partizan (@Dr_Partizan) April 28, 2017
