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US denies report of coalition envoy visit to Rojava
"That ain't us!"ERBIL – The U.S. Department of State spokesman denied Kurdish news reports that U.S. Special Envoy Ambassador McGurk had visited the Kurdish city of Kobane in northern Syria [Rojava] this week to discuss future military operations against the Islamic State (ISIS). “Those reports are wrong,” US State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday in Washington. “No he [McGurk] didn’t visit there. Totally false reporting,” he added. The official also denied the report on Twitter. “No truth to K24English reports about Brett McGurk travel to Kobani [Kobane],” he said. "Lies! All lies!" Moreover, the official said no meetings took place in Kobane to discuss future military operations against the Islamic State. “I’m not aware of any visit,” Kirby said. Local Kurdish media reported that the U.S. Special Envoy visited the Kurds to discuss future operations. While the US wants the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to carry out an operation to take the Islamic State capital of Raqqa, the Kurds rather want to capture Jarabulus and Manbij, and open a corridor to the besieged canton of Afrin. According to news reports, ISIS has intensified security measures in Raqqa and deployed hundreds of militants in the surroundings of the city after the SDF announced they have a plan to storm Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Islamic State. Posted by: badanov 2016-05-20 |
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