Syrian Kurds OK US-led oil mission

The commander of the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) signed off on a plan to help the Donald Trump administration protect Syria’s oil fields, despite an ongoing Turkish incursion the group has lobbied the United States to stop.

In a tweet sent on Wednesday afternoon, SDF chief Gen. Mazlum Kobane confirmed the group is “resuming its joint program of work with the coalition to combat [the Islamic State (IS)] and securing the infrastructure of [northeast] Syria.”

Today’s announcement from Kobane would mark a reversal, after the SDF’s political chief Ilham Ahmed had previously insisted that the United States must stop the Turkish incursion for the Kurdish-led group to stay in the IS fight. A source with knowledge of SDF operations said the shift came after meetings between Kobane and the military leadership of the US-led coalition.

Though senior Pentagon leaders, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper, have insisted since Turkey launched an incursion into northern Syria on Oct. 9 that it would continue to partner with the SDF, that alliance has come under consistent strain for weeks. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units, known as the YPG, which form the military backbone of the SDF, considered the withdrawal a “betrayal.”