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Syrian state
media said the government strongly condemned the presence of
French and German forces in Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani,
and Manbij.
"Syria ... considers it explicit and unjustified aggression
towards (Syria's) sovereignty and independence," state news
agency SANA quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
The U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) are staging an
offensive against Islamic State near Manbij, while Kobani is
under the control of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, part of the
SDF.
Germany's defense ministry said repeated claims by the Syrian
government that German special forces were in northern Syria
were not and had never been true.
"There are no German special forces in Syria. The accusation is
false," a ministry spokesman said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which
monitors the Syrian civil war now in its sixth year, said French
special forces were building a base for themselves near Kobani.
France's defense minister said last week that there were special
forces operating in Syria helping the SDF advance towards Manbij.
The Observatory also said German, French and American military
advisers, and French and American special forces, were assisting
the SDF in its fight against Islamic State but had so far
remained in a support role and not fought on front lines.
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Beirut and Andreas Rinke; in
Berlin; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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