Russian maneuvers with the Syrian army in north eastern Syria

On Sunday, Tal Tamr district, north of Hasakeh, witnessed joint military maneuvers, the first in the region, between the Russian forces and the Syrian army, coinciding with Turkish threats to launch a military operation in the area against the “SDF”.

North-Press network said, “Russian air forces are conducting military maneuvers in the skies of the town of Tal Tamr and its western countryside, on the contact lines with the Turkish forces and their loyal factions”.

Kurdish Hawar news agency reported that “the Russian forces, along with the Syrian army, began conducting joint military maneuvers, with the participation of the air and ground forces in the villages of Tal Tamr district, noting that “the sounds of explosions are heard in the northern and western villages”.

According to the agency, “the Russian warplanes launched thermal balloons three times over the contact lines in the western countryside of the city, adjacent to the M4 international road, in addition to launching missiles into the empty spaces near the village of Tal al Laban”.

Local media sources said that the Syrian army conducted “military maneuvers with live weapons in Tal Tamer district, north of Hasakeh, with the participation of Russian fighters who are reviewing their aircraft by flying at low altitudes in the airspace of the area and throwing thermal balloons”.

The local media sources pointed out that the maneuvers took place in “an area located between Jabal Abdul Aziz on the M4 road and the al Alia area in the countryside of Tal Tamr, north of Hasakeh, near the front lines with the Turkish-backed factions”.

During the past two weeks, Turkish officials issued threats to launch a Turkish military operation against the People’s Protection Units in the east of the Euphrates.

It was not known exactly which areas the Turkish operation would target, but newspapers close to Ankara had indicated that it would be in the direction of two of five locations: Ayn Issa in the countryside of Raqqa, Manbij in the countryside of Aleppo, Tal Rifaat in the countryside of Aleppo, Ain al Arab (Kobani), and Tal Tamr at Hasakeh countryside.

Tal Tamr is located 40 kilometers from the city of Hasakeh and 35 kilometers from the city of Ras al Ain, which is under the control of the Turkish-backed “National Army” militia.

The importance of Tal Tamr lies in its location on the international road “M4” that connects the city of Aleppo with the Iraqi border, passing through Raqqa and Hasakeh.

The district, to which more than 130 villages belong, is located at the crossroads of local roads leading to Hasakeh and Qamishli, and these roads also reach border areas. As important as Amuda and Darbasiyah.

The Turkish journalist, Levent Kemal, said on his Twitter account that “the Russian M4 strategy is already limiting Turkey, as Ain Issa, Tal Tamer and Manbij are located on the M4 road”.

He pointed out that “it is unlikely that Russia, which wants to control the M4 in Idlib, will leave these points on the M4 east of the Euphrates to Turkey”.

Turkish bombing and US forces?

The Russian military maneuvers coincided with a “US military convoy of 10 military vehicles heading to the city of Tal Tamr, coming from the city of Hasakeh”, according to the local “Khabour” network.

It also coincided with Turkish drones targeting SDF positions in the vicinity of the town of Tal Tamr.

This comes with the announcement of the Turkish presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, that the military operation against the “People’s Protection Units” (YPG) in Syria, “may happen at any time”.

Kalin said, in a statement to CNN TURK, on ​​Sunday, that the military operation “may happen at any time”, adding that the Turkish military forces “are planning this, and they always take the necessary step as needed”.