MOSCOW (Dispatches) – The Syrian army will regain control of the country’s north by force if terrorists there refuse to surrender, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russian television channel NTV on Sunday.
Assad’s comments come after Damascus said it rejected the presence of Turkish and U.S. forces around the northern town of Manbij, a day after soldiers of the two countries began patrolling the area.
"We have chosen two paths: the first and most important one is reconciliation... The second path is to attack terrorists if they don’t surrender and refuse to make peace,” Assad said in the interview.
"We will fight with them (the terrorists) and return control by force. It is certainly not the best option for us, but it’s the only way to get control of the country,” said Assad, responding to a question about the northern part of Syria where terrorist groups backed by Turkey hold some territory.
Meanwhile, U.S.-backed militants reportedly declare a curfew in the northern Syrian city of Raqqah, citing alleged Daesh movements.
The so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the two-day measure on Sunday "in response to intelligence on potential attacks” by the terror group.
Local authorities said they had received "information that terrorist groups working on behalf of Daesh ... have entered Raqqah city to carry out attacks against stability and security."
Therefore, they decided to put in place "a state of emergency and a curfew in Raqqah city starting at 5:00am (0200 GMT) on Sunday June 24, 2018, until 5:00 am on Tuesday."
Daesh lost its de facto Syrian capital of Raqqah after four months of ferocious fighting and bombing by the SDF and the U.S. that left the city in ruins.
During the operation, Russia accused the United States and its allies of "carpet-bombing” residential areas.
Daesh's territory in Syria's north and east has been whittled down to just a handful of isolated pockets but security incidents around Raqqah have been on the rise in recent weeks.
The U.S. supports several militant groups in Syria, notably Kurds, sparking fears that they might be trying to create a statelet outside the Syrian government's control.