Turkish tanks driving to the border town of Jarabulus in Syria (Credit: Bulent Kilic, AFP, via kurdistan24.net).
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Syrian Kurdistan, or Rojava, declared a state of emergency last Wednesday in preparation for an impending Turkish invasion. Last month, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a fourth Turkish operation in northern Syria, this time seeking to capture the cities of Manbij and Tel Rifaat, the only remaining population centers occupied by Kurdish-led militias west of the Euphrates River.
At least 8 Turkish military convoys of up to 50 vehicles each were documented crossing the Turko-Syrian border last week, carrying thousands of Turkish soldiers, tanks, and artillery into territory controlled by Syrian rebel forces known as the Syrian National Army (SNA). Turkish troops and their militia proxies began staging in Turkish-held cities such as Afrin, al-Bab, and Azaz, just a few kilometers from Tel Rifaat and Manbij. In response, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have allowed an additional 550 Syrian regime soldiers into Manbij as reinforcements. Syrian army units were also deployed to Kobane and Ain Issa, further east into Rojava, as the SDF anticipates a possible multi-pronged Turkish offensive at different points across the border.
The massing troop deployments follow an uptick in skirmishes along the various fronts between Turkish-backed forces and the SDF. Turkey has conducted over 50 drone strikes inside Syrian Kurdistan since January, with over 150 artillery shells fired by SNA militias towards Kurdish-held territory in the last two weeks, killing several civilians.
The United States, Russia and Iran found unusual common ground in their public opposition to the planned Turkish incursion, which would be the fourth such operation in the last six years. The US-led Coalition held a series of meetings with the AANES and SDF in Manbij and Kobane, reportedly to reaffirm its commitment to military and logistical support of the SDF, its main Syrian partner in the war against ISIS. Syrian militias aligned with the Assad regime and Iran, which are opposed to rebel militias and Turkish occupation, are also reportedly supporting the SDF and regime forces in defense of Manbij.
As another Turkish operation in Syrian Kurdistan appears imminent, we would ask the Maranatha global community to join us in urgent intercession for the people of northern Syria. We pray that the designs of the enemy to steal, kill and destroy would be thwarted. We pray that a divine hedge of protection would be placed around Syrian civilians and their defenders. And as always, we pray that laborers of the harvest fields of Rojava, who have already been sent out by the Father, would be filled with the Spirit and ready to make witness to the Prince of Peace in the face of another coming war.
Maranatha!
