The US should intervene more forcefully to end a Syrian offensive that has gained key territory from Kurdish fighters in recent days, the head of the main Kurdish force told Reuters.

Government troops launched an offensive on Saturday into territory run for the last decade by semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities in the northeast of Syria, capturing towns on both sides of the Euphrates River as well as the country’s largest oil field and a gas field, officials and security sources said.

Syrian state media said two civilians were killed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northern city of Raqqa on Sunday, as a monitor reported clashes there.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes between the SDF “and local Arab tribal fighters” were taking place in some neighborhoods of the city, which has been under SDF control since the US-backed force pushed out Islamic State jihadists in 2017.

People’s Protection Units (YPG) commander Sipan Hamo said a Saturday meeting between US envoy Tom Barrack and Kurdish officials produced no roadmap to a ceasefire. He denied Syria’s Kurds wanted to secede or create an independent state and said their future was in Syria.

“Our greatest hope is that there will be a tangible outcome, especially from the coalition and the United States, meaning that they will intervene more forcefully in the existing problems than what they are currently doing,” Hamo said.

Syrian troops have continued to advance, despite a US military Central Command call on........

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