US troops resumed joint patrols with Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria on Saturday, after they were postponed amid Turkish airstrikes on the region.
Footage shows a convoy of armoured vehicles bearing US flags patrolling roads near the towns of Al-Muabbada and Rmelian.
“During the past two weeks, the US patrols in the region stopped. But today the patrols were seen again in Girke Lege (Al-Muabbada) and its countryside. This gave the locals some relief. On the other hand, we wondered why the patrols stopped during the past two weeks. If the US and Russia want to establish a comfortable and stable environment, they must keep on patrolling the region,” said a local man.
“When the airstrikes took place the US patrols stopped. They shouldn’t have stopped during the airstrikes, because so many civilians were killed. If the patrols were still roaming the region, there wouldn’t have been so many casualties, and the planes wouldn’t have bombed us,” added another.
According to US officials, the renewed patrols are limited to the areas surrounding a camp which houses tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, with ties to Islamic State militants.
