PKK/PYD-affiliated SDF spokesman defects: Source

By Mohamed Misto

ALEPPO, Syria (AA) - A spokesman for the PKK/PYD, which uses the name of SDF, has defected and sought refuge in an area of northern Syria secured earlier by Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield, according to a local source.

Talal Sillo arrived late Tuesday in an area held by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo province, the source said.

The source provided no further details, however, regarding the SDF spokesman’s apparent defection.

The FSA, which has fought the Daesh terrorist group with the backing of Turkey’s military, described the development as a “defection”.

In a Twitter post, the FSA said: “Spokesperson of Syrian Democratic Forces #SDF [PKK/PYD], Colonel Talal Silo, defects from the militia in coordination with #FSA & arrives to #Jarablus, rural Aleppo”.

The tweet included a photograph purportedly showing Silo sitting at a desk in military fatigues.

The SDF is a U.S.-backed fighting force comprised largely of PKK/PYD terrorists.

Born in Aleppo in 1965, Sillo served as an officer for several years in the Syrian army in the 1990s. After being discharged, he joined the SDF following the group’s establishment in 2015.

In a wide-ranging campaign launched last year, dubbed Operation Euphrates Shield, the FSA -- with the support of the Turkish army -- cleared 2,000 square kilometers of land along the Turkish-Syrian border of terrorist elements.

Meanwhile, former PKK/PYD spokesman Redur Halil has been appointed the SDF’s foreign relations representative.

The PKK/PYD is the Syrian branch of the PKK, which has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for 33 years, leading to the deaths of more than 40,000 people.

The PKK has been designated a terror organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU.