The Guardian :
About 1.1 million people have been displaced since Syrian rebels launched the offensive that ousted former president Bashar al-Assad, the UN’s humanitarian agency has said, as fighting between different factions continues.
“As of 12 December, 1.1 million people have been newly displaced across the country since the start of the escalation of hostilities on 27 November. The majority are women and children,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
Among those displaced are more than 100,000 people who have fled into Kurdish-administered areas in northern Syria amid escalating factional fighting and fears of retaliatory attacks.
Tensions appear to be concentrated primarily on the town of Manbij, north-east of Aleppo, and the mixed Arab and Kurdish town of Deir Ezzour in eastern Syria.
After the collapse of Assadist forces last week, Kurdish and Arab units fighting under the banner of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have advanced, in some places clashing with the Turkish-backed rebel groups of the Syrian National Army, in an effort to secure swaths of territory in northern and eastern Syria.
In a gesture of unity, the Kurdish-backed administrations of north-eastern Syria declared they would fly the flag of independence long used by opposition forces across the country, in order to “affirm the unity of Syria and its national identity”.
The SDF commander, Gen Mazloum Abdi, said US mediation had helped broker a ceasefire agreement in Manbij, but that his forces “continue to resist and stop the growing attacks from the west of the Euphrates”, as Turkish-backed rebel groups attempted to take control of the town. Despite the ceasefire, reports continued of fighting in the centre of Manbij.
“Our goal is to cease fire throughout Syria and enter into a political process for the future of the country,” said Abdi.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist faction that is in control of much of Syria, has not clashed with Kurdish-led forces. Rebel forces in eastern Syria, however, drove Kurdish fighters out of Deir Ezzour amid confusion about who controls the town and rising fears about the presence of Islamic State (IS) fighters in the area.
Turkey, which regards the SDF and associated Kurdish fighters as terrorist groups, has also launched attacks on Kurdish troops. Ankara-backed forces struck a Kurdish convoy that it said was carrying heavy weapons looted from Syrian government arsenals.
The SDF said its forces were “repelling an attack” by Turkish-aligned forces at the Tishreen dam, near Manbij. “Fierce clashes continue amid fears for the dam,” it said, blaming bombardment by Turkish warplanes and tanks.
An estimated 900 US troops remain in eastern Syria to back Kurdish forces and other rebel factions battling to prevent a resurgence by IS.
