By Ece Toksabay and Ezgi Erkoyun
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey-backed Syrian opposition groups took control of the northern Syrian town of Manbij from U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces (SDF), a Turkish security source said on Monday, a day after rebels declared Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.
The SDF had been holding the town in recent days amid intense fighting with the Syrian National Army (SNA) and other Turkey-backed groups.
Clashes in the north continued even as the world was caught surprised by the opposition’s swift successes in initially seizing Aleppo and, on Sunday, the capital Damascus in the south.
The lightening offensive took less than two weeks, after a 13-year war.
A video, verified by Reuters, showed opposition forces being welcomed by people in Manbij, which is some 30 km (19 miles) south of the Turkish border and west of the Euphrates river.
Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency reported the area is being searched for possible landmines and traps left behind by the Kurdish militia.
The SDF is the main ally in a U.S. coalition against Islamic State militants. Turkey says it is spearheaded by a terrorist group closely tied to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.
Abdurrahman Mustafa, head of the Turkey-backed opposition’s provisional government, congratulated the troops that took Manbij.
“We stand with pride and honor with our heroic forces, and we support them to complete the liberation of every inch of our land and achieve the aspirations of our people for freedom and dignity,” Mustafa said in a post on X.
The United States said it will maintain its presence in eastern Syria, where the SDF is concentrated, and will take necessary steps to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State. The United States is estimated to have 900 troops in eastern Syria as a hedge against ISIS militants.
Separately, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said U.S. strikes in Syria in recent days were focused on ISIS cells to hinder them from taking advantage of fallout from the rebellion.
(Additional reporting by Timothy Kelly; Writing by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Ed Osmond and Jonathan Spicer)
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