DAMASCUS, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces on Sunday began an offensive on a Kurdish-controlled city in northwestern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based war monitor.
The forces, which Türkiye refers to as the "Syrian National Army," attacked Tel Rifaat, a city in the northern countryside of Syria's Aleppo province, and "there are violent clashes between Kurdish forces and the factions," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the SOHR.
Al-Hadath, a regional news outlet, also reported the offensive.
In response to the assault, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria announced in a statement a general mobilization "to confront the opposition factions."
Tel Rifaat has been a strategic point of contention. Kurdish forces, including the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurds-led Syrian Democratic Forces, took control of the city in 2016, which has since become a refuge for civilians displaced from other areas.
The assault on Sunday came at a time when the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qaida-linked extremist organization, and allied opposition factions are carrying out a major offensive against government-controlled areas in northern and central Syria.
Türkiye sees the YPG group as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union. ■
