Terrorist YPG/PKK fortifying tunnels in Manbij, Syria

By Levent Tok, Omer Koparan and Adham Kako

MANBIJ, Syria / ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency on Thursday captured new footage of the YPG/PKK terrorist organization's tunnels around Manbij, northern Syria, fortifications in an area the group is supposed to have left.

With air support and arms from the U.S., the YPG/PKK -- which took the region from Daesh -- is preparing for possible military action by Turkey against the terrorist group.

The new Anadolu Agency footage shows that the terrorists have continued excavation to extend and expand the tunnels, as well as electrical work to light them up for the use of machines and wheelbarrows.

The tunnels, which have been made tall enough to allow most people to walk through upright, surround the district center of Manbij.

The terrorists apparently mean to use the tunnels to protect themselves from possible airstrikes, launch sudden attacks, and hide out if necessary.

The U.S. has yet to fulfill its pledges to Turkey about Manbij, with the YPG/PKK terror group surrounding the district center with trenches, tunnels, and embankments.

Against Turkish objections, the U.S. has worked with the YPG/PKK as an "ally" against Daesh, but that seems set to end with the promised withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria.

- Terrorist fortifications ignore roadmap

After Turkey and the U.S. agreed this June to a roadmap for the terrorist YPG/PKK to leave Manbij, the terror group has on the contrary stepped up its presence and activities in the area.

The terrorist group has completed the construction of trenches and embankments in areas surrounding the entire city center as if it has no intention of leaving.

The terror group formed embankments at various depths in front of trenches to make up a series of lines stretching nearly 30 kilometers (18 miles).

Foreshadowing Turkish counter-terrorist action, last month Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said: "The terror group is digging ditches in Manbij, as they did in Afrin, despite promises made for the PKK/PYD/YPG's withdrawal from Manbij."

"The terror group should know that it will be buried in the trenches it has dug," he told parliament’s Planning And Budget Commission.

In the last two years, Turkey has successfully carried out two counter-terrorist operations in Syria -- Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch -- to eradicate the presence of YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists near Turkey’s borders, and a third one is expected, east of the Euphrates River.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.