Syrian state media also said the army troops have entered the center of Manbij in northern Syria and have raised the national flag in the city.

A video released by SANA shows a number of people gathering in the city’s main square and waving Syrian flags on Tuesday morning.

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that the Russian military police were continuing patrol missions along the line of communication between Turkish and Syrian government forces, MBS news reported.

“The Russian military police continue to patrol the northwestern border of Manbij along the line of communication between Syrian and Turkish forces. Cooperation has been organized with the Turkish side,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

SANA has reported that the Syrian army units entered Manbij hours after taking control of Tabqa and its military airport, as well as Ain Issa in Raqqa’s northern countryside and a large number of nearby villages and towns.

Syrian Kurds on Sunday struck a deal with the government in Damascus on the deployment of Syrian army forces near the northern border after US troops pulled out of the region ahead of a Turkish incursion.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said US warplanes had targeted a column of Syrian troops in the city of Raqqah in an apparent attempt to hinder their deployment to the north.

The US military also tried to hinder the dispatch of Syrian and Russian forces near Manbij, the London-based war monitoring group said.

Kurdish authorities said the deal “paves the way to liberate the rest of the Syrian cities occupied by the Turkish army such as Afrin” in northwest.

Ankara says the operation is meant to purge Kurdish YPG militants, the backbone of the US-backed SDF militant group, which Turkey views as terrorists linked to local militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Residents of the northern city of Qamishli on Sunday celebrated the announcement of the Syrian troop deployment.

On Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey’s incursion will stretch from Kobani in the west to Hasakeh in the east, going some 30 km (19 miles) into Syrian territory.

The Observatory said earlier Sunday that Turkish troops and their militant allies had entered Suluk, some 10 km from Turkey’s border.

Turkish troops have so far seized control of 109 square km territory, including 17 villages around Tel Abyad and four villages around Ras al-Ain, Erdogan said.

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“Emphasizing the need to respect the national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Syria, the Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the rise of the Syrian national flag in the city of Manbij and regards it as an important step to consolidate the sovereignty of the legitimate government of Syria and a new step to resolve the crisis in the country,” Qassemi said in a statement on Friday.

Syria’s army said Friday it had entered Manbij for the first time in years after a Kurdish militia called on Syrian forces to protect the area from the threat of a Turkish military incursion.

Syria’s military command announced its forces had raised the Syrian flag in the city following what it described as an appeal by people in the area.

The statement, which was read out on Syrian state television, stressed the importance of “safeguarding national sovereignty” and reaffirmed the military’s “determination to crush terrorism and defeat all invaders and occupiers.”

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