Syrian army enters Manbij after Kurdish calls to deter Turkey

Syria's army has entered the flashpoint city of Manbij, according to state media, after the country's main Kurdish armed group invited government forces to take control of the area and protect it from a threatened Turkish offensive.

The army said it would guarantee “full security for all Syrian citizens and others present in the area”.

It was unclear whether the government forces had spread out into the town, where U.S. forces have operated and set up a base earlier this year.

The Syrian army spokesman said the national flag was raised in Manbij, a key city which lies about 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of the Turkish border.

The YPG asked government forces to deploy in areas it already withdrew from earlier this year, especially the Manbij area, a key city where US-led coalition forces are stationed.

"We invite the Syrian government forces... to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, in particularly Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion," the statement said.

Kurdish fighters still based there are part of the coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces alliance battling Daesh.

Turkey, which views the YPG as a "terrorist" group, had threatened a military operation against Manbij to remove the Kurdish-led forces there. Turkey and its allied fighters have been amassing troops around the city in recent days.

The threats triggered the US announced it would withdraw troops from Syria. A timetable for the withdrawal has not yet been made public.

But the surprise US decision rattled allies and the US Syrian Kurdish partners, who scrambled to find new allies to protect their Kurdish-administered areas in northern Syria. Assad's government has said it welcomes the Kurdish group returning under its authority.

But government officials have stated they will not consider an autonomous area, a main demand for the Kurds.

There was no immediate response from Turkey or the US. Russia welcomed the Syrian army's entry into Manbij.

"Of course, this will help in stabilizing the situation. The enlargement of the zone under the control of government forces... is, without doubt, a positive trend," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.