Latest updates on northern Aleppo, 4 June 2022

On June 2, after extensive movements by the Turkish army and its backed militants in northern Syria, Syrian army forces, backed by Russian helicopters, moved new equipment to the city of Tal Rafaat and the Menagh military airport.
The move shows that the Syrian army had previously reached an agreement with Kurdish militias to send troops and military equipment to Tal Rafaat and Menagh Airport. The escort of the Syrian army convoy by Russian helicopters also indicates that the Russians have not yet given the green light to a possible Turkish operation.

The situation on the Manbij front is slightly different from the Tal Rafaat, because so far the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have not agreed to the entry of Syrian army forces into the city of Manbij, and this decision puts the city of Manbij at the forefront of Turkey’s future operations.

International parties including the U.S. oppose launching Turkish military operation in northern Syria. In this regard, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US representative to the UN, has announced the US opposition to the Turkish operation in northern Syria.
The United States is well aware that if it agrees to a new Turkish operation in northern Syria, it will lose the support of the Syrian Democratic Forces, one of its main allies in Syria. And it is possible that the SDF, after the United States, began to negotiate and ally with the Syrian government.

Simultaneously with these measures, the activities of the militants in the Idlib region have increased. The militants are said to have moved part of their forces and equipment to areas of contact lines with the Syrian army northeast of Idlib and west of Aleppo. Given these movements, it is likely that at the same time as the Turkish army and its affiliated militias begin offensive operations in northern Syria, the militants will launch attacks to seize Syrian army positions in western Aleppo.

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