As clashes continue to rage between Washington and Ankara’s proxies in north Syria, the US is heavily reinforcing its presence near the Turkish border.

The US army mobilized at least 50 trucks transporting concrete fortifications to the town of Kobani (Ain al-Arab) in the eastern countryside of Aleppo on 2 January in preparation for building a new military base, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The convoy was spotted traveling along the Hasakah–Raqqah highway en route to the Kurdish-majority city near the Turkish border. It was accompanied by a

military vehicle from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Washington’s proxy militia in northeast Syria.

On Wednesday, local sources reported that another large US convoy delivered logistic reinforcements to Kobani, including premade chambers, surveillance cameras, cement blocks, fuel tanks, and digging equipment.

Construction on Washington’s new military base will reportedly begin on Friday. “More military reinforcements such as soldiers, weapons, armored vehicles, radars, and anti-aircraft weapons will be brought [later on],” the SOHR report states.

The US illegally deployed troops in Syria in November 2015 to allegedly “prevent the return of ISIS.” This came just two months after Russia accepted the request of Damascus to provide air support to the Syrian army, Iranian special forces, and Hezbollah in their fight against ISIS forces who threatened to overrun the Syrian capital.

Since then, Washington has retained a stranglehold on Syria’s largest oil and wheat fields in the northeast with the help of the SDF. The US also controls a massive 55-kilometer zone near the tri-border area with Iraq and Jordan.

Last month, the Pentagon confirmed that it has about 2,000 troops deployed inside Syria.

Washington’s increased military presence in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled north comes as SDF troops confront an intense offensive from the Syrian National Army (SNA) with air and artillery support from Turkiye.

On Thursday morning, the Turkish army and the SNA hit SDF positions in the eastern countryside of Ain Issa in Raqqah with heavy shelling and mortar fire. Close to 200 people have been killed since violent clashes broke out on 8 December between Washington and Ankara’s proxies.

The SNA is comprised of former fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. Ankara has used the group for years as a tool to prevent the SDF from establishing a contiguous Kurdish autonomous zone from Afrin in Syria’s northwest to Hasakah in the northeast.

The armed group is also closely allied to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The former Al-Qaeda affiliate took control of Syria early in December after leading a successful armed coup against former president Bashar al-Assad.

The Cradle Media report