US forces on Sunday patrolled an area in northeastern Syria bordering Turkey after renewed tensions between Ankara and Syrian Kurds, a spokesman and an AFP reporter said. Three armoured vehicles carrying soldiers wearing the US flag on their uniform arrived in the Kurdish-held northeastern border town of Al-Darbasiyah, the correspondent said. Turkey last week raised threats against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, shelling their positions and flagging a possible new offensive.
The Kurds spearhead the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance, backed by the US-led coalition, that has been fighting the Islamic State group in Syria. Coalition spokesman Sean Ryan said Sunday's patrol was the second in a week, after a first one by US forces on Friday.
"The US forces' assurance patrols enable us to maintain safety and security in the region," he said, but are not carried out "on a regular basis". An SDF spokesman said the US patrols, in coordination with the SDF, were directly linked to recent tensions between the Kurds and Ankara.
"They are not routine patrols. They are directly linked to these threats. The objective is to call on Turkey to stop its aggression," Mustefa Bali said. Sunday's patrols were headed towards Ras al-Ain, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) to the west of Al-Darbasiyah along the frontier, he said.
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