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Turkey, US agree on Syria ceasefire to force Kurdish fighters withdrawal

The agreement for the 120-hour pause eased what had escalated into an unprecedented crisis between the United States and Turkey, but critics quickly accused President Donald Trump of again abandoning Kurdish allies.

Turkey, US agree on Syria ceasefire to force Kurdish fighters withdrawal

US Vice President Michael Richard Pence (Photo: AFP)

US Vice President Mike Pence and Turkish officials announced on Thursday after having a high-stakes talk that Turkey has agreed to suspend its Syria offensive for five days and will end the assault if Kurdish-led forces withdraw from a safe zone along the border.

Redur Khalil, a senior official of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said the plan for evacuation from the town of Ras al-Ain was set for Sunday if there were no delays.

The agreement for the 120-hour pause eased what had escalated into an unprecedented crisis between the United States and Turkey, but critics quickly accused President Donald Trump of again abandoning Kurdish allies.

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Redur Khalil, a senior official of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said the plan for evacuation from the town of Ras al-Ain was set for Sunday if there were no delays.

A five-day ceasefire that reached in negotiations between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US Vice President Mike Pence, was largely holding along Turkey’s border with Syria on Saturday, despite accusations of violations from Turkish-allied forces and Kurdish fighters.

According to the deal, Turkey agreed to give Kurdish forces 120 hours to pull back from the Turkey-Syria border to allow Ankara to form a so-called “safe zone”. The agreement has not specified the area of its pullback, Aljazeera reported.

One Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded after an attack by the YPG group in northeast Syria’s Tal Abyad, the defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The ministry said the attack with anti-tank and light weapons struck Turkish soldiers carrying out a reconnaissance and surveillance mission in Tal Abyad.

Turkey launched its cross-border offensive on October 9, aiming to clear the region of YPG fighters.

Earlier in the month, US President Donald Trump had sent a letter to his Turkish counterpart Erdogan, after which Trump warned Erdogan on Syria offensive and called him “Don’t be a fool”.

“You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy — and I will”, Trump added.

Last week, Trump had announced that he will authorise sanctions against Turkish officials, raise steel tariffs and end negotiations on a USD 100 billion trade deal.

On pulling back of US troops, Trump said that only a small contingent will remain at the Tanf Garrison in southern Syria to disrupt remnants of the ISIS.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had promised to bring back US troops from Syria and Afghanistan.

More than 50 people, including civilians, have been killed last week as the Turkish offensive in Syria, which was launched by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed at pushing the Kurdish forces away from its border.

Earlier on Saturday, President Erdogan said that Turkey would press on with its offensive and “crush the heads” of Kurdish fighters if the deal on the withdrawal was not fully implemented, according to Aljazeera report.

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