Syrian Kurds call in government forces to fend off Turkish offensive

<p>Syria’s state agencies reported that its army entered the Kurdish-held city of Manbij, on the invitation of the Kurdish YPG to protect it from a threatened Turkish offensive.</p> <p>However US military officials and some locals have refuted the claim.</p> <p>The New York Times said the move came as Kurds felt “betrayed” by the United States’ decision to withdraw from Syria and that the “request amounted to a United States ally [Kurds] calling on an enemy of the United States [Syrian government] to protect it from another American ally, Turkey.”</p> <p>US commanders planning for the withdrawal of troops&nbsp; from Syria recommended that Kurdish fighters be permitted to keep US-supplied weapons.</p> <p>Kurdish officials confirmed that the YPG (People’s Protection Unit) requested Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government to prevent a Turkish ‘invasion’ in the border city.</p>