Forces of the Syrian army’s Republican Guard are deploying to the border of government and Kurdish controlled territory in Aleppo province’s Afrin region, Al-Masdar News reports citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The SOHR report claims that Republican Guard units are reinforcing Syrian army positions along the Zahraa-Nubl axis, where Turkish-backed forces are just a matter of kilometers away from making contact with government lines.

Al-Masdar News cannot currently clarify the SOHR claim.

If true, the Republican Guard units most likely belong to the Syrian army’s Aleppo-based 30th Division. Such units will most likely not be involved in any intervention into the Afrin following the collapse of talks between Damascus and Kurdish forces for the hand-over of the region to government protection.