February 5, 2019 - 11:24 AMT
Russian troops expand presence along Turkish border

The Russian military police have expanded their presence around the Manbij countryside after conducting several patrols alongside the U.S.-backed Manbij Military Council (MMC), Al-Masdar News reports.

According to the latest reports from the northern countryside of Aleppo, the Russian military police have recently expanded their patrols to the key town of Tal Rifa’at, which is located just south of Turkish Army’s front-lines.

“Personnel successfully carry out three types of task: 1) we carry out humanitarian operations, I mean we distribute humanitarian aid 2) we take different measures connected with the ceasefire 3) We also control how forces of the Syrian Arab Republic carry out their tasks and set up military posts,” Head of Russian Military Police Vladimir Ivanovskii said.

Russian military police began launching their patrols in the Manbij area on January 8th; they would conduct these operations as part of an agreement that was made between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Since they began these patrols, the Russian military police have seen a significant decrease in aggression from the nearby Turkish Army and rebel forces north of Manbij.

Furthermore, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has positioned themselves in northern and western Manbij to block any potential operation from the Turkish military and their allies.