Syrian Opposition Claims Kurds Provided With 48 Vehicles, 250 Troops by US

The US convoy providing 48 units of military transport and 250 soldiers to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) crossed the Syria-Iraq border through the Semalka gate and arrived in the Syrian town of Haseke, according to Turkish media.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — The United States has sent military reinforcements in the form of 48 units of military transport and 250 soldiers to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, Turkish media reported, citing a group of Syrian moderate opposition.

The US convoy crossed the Syria-Iraq border through the Semalka gate and arrived in the Syrian town of Haseke, the Yeni Safak media outlet reported, citing Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC).

Ankara considers the PYD to be affiliated with the PKK, which is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union. However, the PYD and the YPG, as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been receiving support from the United States in fighting the Daesh terror group (outlawed in Russia) in northern Syria.

Tensions between Ankara and the Kurdish pro-independence PKK escalated in 2015, after a three-year ceasefire between the two sides collapsed over a series of terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK members, prompting Ankara to launch a military operation in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern regions.