Nafiz Albayrak / New York, March 10 () - The United States has witnessed cooperation between the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG), the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and Russia, according to a top U.S. general.

Responding to a question as to whether cooperation between the YPG and Russia had been seen, Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, said there had been observations of such cooperation in northwestern Syria.

“I have observed that the YPG groups and Russia have been in cooperation in Syria’s northwest” Austin said on March 8.

Austin was answering questions at the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee along with Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM); and Joseph Votel, the commander of Special Operations Command (SOCOM); regarding U.S. forces’ operations against the Islamic State (IS).

“It will not be true to say it is a continuous cooperation but I can define it as a cooperation that materializes from time to time” Austin said, in response to Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer.