Washington continues to support the Kurdish fighters, despite the US rhetoric of total solidarity with Ankara and attempts to find a compromise with Turkey on the Kurdish and Syrian issues. Firstly the US directly bolstered the Kurds, but now they decided to seek the assistance of the European private military contractors to avoid the Turkish accusation of terrorism support.
Sources from Arab councils in Syrian Hasaka revealed that Sweden PMC 'Vesper Group' trained approximately 50 SDF Kurdish fighters on the Ain al-Assad US military base located in Iraq At the beginning of March. This drill was focused on firearms training, sniping, guerilla tactics, and mine-warfare.
As
for 'Vesper Group', it is a notorious contractor made up of the former
Sweden policemen, intelligence officers, and special forces operatives.
Work in 'Vesper' Iraqi project " target="_blank" blacklisted="
Though 'Vesper' was engaged in "smooth" activities earlier. The contractor was accused of weapon smuggling via Sweden diplomatic missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
As for the Kurds, the Kurdish Autonomous administration may use trained militants as a reinforcement for Deir Ez-Zor oilfields' guard and saboteurs in northern Syria. Experts believe that the Kurdish scouts may conduct hit-and-run attacks on the Turkish patrols in northern Syria and especially in Afrin.
Besides it is extremely timely for the Kurds to deploy more personnel in the oil facilities amid recent Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposal for his Russians counterpart Putin on 'joint managing oil fields in eastern Syria's Deir Ez-Zor region, in place of the Kurdish-led forces which control them now'. Erdogan obviously intends to choke SDF financing provided from the oil trade under the auspices of the US.
All told, cooperation between private military contractors and the Kurdish forces sponsored by the US indicates that Washington will continue indirect support for Syrian Defense Force. This strategy allows the US to save the pressure on the Turkish personnel deployed in northern Syria and avoid Ankara's complaints on the US-Kurdish cooperation, which is unacceptable for the Turks. Besides, this way is much cheaper than the US official military activities.