US forces setting up positions in north Syria

US President Donald Trump the past week has spoken of pulling out of Syria “very soon.” But American forces have been setting up new front-line positions outside the strategic northern town of Manbij, west of the Euphrates River.

The area is the scene of a tense standoff where US-backed Kurdish-led forces who hold Manbij face Turkish-backed Syrian fighters. Turkey has vowed to retake Manbij and other Kurdish-held territory along the Syrian-Turkish border; the US troops stationed here are a key reason why they are holding back.

The US-led coalition in Syria had said there are no US bases in the area and that US patrols were not static. There was no immediate comment from the coalition this afternoon.

— AP