YPG to stop wheat going to regime territory

The region across north and east Syria is a key source of wheat for Assad regime, which imports much of its demand, adding to its troubles in navigating tough Western sanctions.

Salman Barodo, head of the region's economy and agriculture board, said its 2019 wheat output would reach 900,000 tonnes, even with damage from heavy rainfall and massive fires engulfing crop fields.

Last year's harvest yielded some 350,000 tonnes of wheat, he said, of which the regime bought 100,000 tonnes, around 40 percent of what it bought from all of Syria.

The YPG militias and their allies control about a quarter of Syria, the largest chunk outside regime hands. It is rich in oil, water, and farmland.

Three provinces which account for nearly 70 percent of the country's wheat production lie mostly in the hands of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish YPG militia.