Abandoned by US, Syrian Kurds request help from Assad regime

Kurdish Syrian forces have asked the Syrian government for protection against a Turkish attack in a flashpoint town, triggered by a shock US decision to withdraw forces from the country which left them exposed. Syrian troops erected the national flag in the outskirts of Manbij - the first time it has flown in the northern town for more than six years. “The aim is to ward off a Turkish offensive,” said Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish official. “If the Turks’ e