Fearing Turkey's Land Attacks, The Commander Of The Syrian Kurdish Forces Wants To Guarantee The United States

SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA/Zana Omer)

JAKARTA - The United States-backed Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Tuesday he was still afraid of a Turkish ground invasion despite guarantees from Washington demanding stronger messages.

The concern and desire for guarantees arose after seeing the unprecedented deployment of Turkish troops along the border.

"There are reinforcements at the border and inside Syria in areas controlled by factions allied with Turkey. We are aware of this and, yes, this is new," SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi told Reuters by telephone from Syria.

Turkish officials say it will take only a few days for its troops to be ready to carry out ground attacks on northern Syria, which has been attacked with howitzer long-range weapons and warplanes by Ankara for days.

The bombing came after months of threats by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about a new ground invasion of Kurdish forces he considered terrorists.

Syrian Kurdish forces have received support from Washington for years, but are also coordinating with the Syrian government and its Russian allies.

Abdi said he had received "clear" guarantees from Washington and Moscow, they were against Turkey's ground invasion, but wanted something more real to contain Ankara.

"We are still nervous. We need stronger and more solid statements to stop Turkey," he said.

"Turkey has announced its intentions and now feels everything. The start of the invasion will depend on how Turkey analyzes the position of other countries," Abdi continued.

Abdi said he would not depend on Syrian air defenses, having previously told Reuters they hoped they would help defend his troops from Ankara airstrikes.

"Their position is weak compared to the Turkish army," he said.