Assad regime blasts US ‘border force’ plan

By Adham Kako

ANKARA

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime on Monday criticized the U.S.-led military coalition for its plan to draw up a border security force consisting of SDF, largely controlled and manned by the PKK/PYD terrorist organization in Syria, according to Syrian state media.

Syria’s official SANA news agency quoted an unnamed Foreign Ministry official as saying the U.S. plan for a border security force consisting largely of SDF fighters threatened to violate Syria’s “sovereignty, unity and integrity”.

Local sources in northern Syria, meanwhile, told Anadolu Agency that the PYD -- the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian affiliate, which at one point controlled a quarter of Syrian territory -- was drawing up an “army” with U.S. support.

Turkey, for its part, has repeatedly criticized ongoing U.S. support for the PKK/PYD, while Washington has described the group as a "reliable ally" in its fight against the Daesh terrorist group in Syria.

Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, the PKK has waged an armed campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years.