Kurdish YPG rebel retreat ‘completed’
Fighters move 30km from Turkish border
MOSCOW: Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that tens of thousands of Syrian Kurdish fighters have completed their withdrawal from areas along the Syrian border, in line with a recent Russia-Turkey deal.
Separately, a Russian military statement said an explosive device went off close to Russian armoured vehicles near the Darbasiyah border checkpoint, but there were no injuries or damage.
Last week’s Russia-Turkey deal divides control of northeast Syria and has halted a Turkish invasion of the area. Ankara aimed to drive out Syrian Kurdish forces there.
The Kurdish-led forces had been US allies during a five-year campaign against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria. But US forces withdrew from the area, allowing the Turkish offensive. The Kurds have since turned to Russia and the Syrian government in Damascus for protection.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russian and Syrian troops have moved into the border zone following the Kurdish withdrawal, which he said had been completed ahead of Tuesday’s 3pm GMT deadline.
Ankara has threatened to resume its offensive if the Kurdish militias did not retreat.
The Russian military in Syria said in a statement that 68 Kurdish units numbering a total of 34,000 fighters had pulled 30 kilometres back from the border in accordance with the RussiaTurkey deal.
Moscow and Ankara have agreed that Turkey gets to retain control over the areas it seized when it launched its offensive on Oct 9. Russian and Syrian troops will control the rest of the frontier.
The Russian military in Syria said that Syrian border guards set up 84 checkpoints on the border with Turkey.
Russia and Turkey are set to conduct joint patrols in areas to the east and west of the Turkish-held parts of the border area.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Russia has informed Turkey that Syrian Kurdish fighters have “completely been removed” from the areas in northeast Syria. Mr Erdogan said Turkey would hold further talks, without elaborating.
Earlier on Tuesday, Turkey’s communications director Fahrettin Altun tweeted that his country’s forces would verify whether the Syrian Kurdish fighters had withdrawn once those joint patrols begin.
Mr Erdogan also took a swipe at the US decision to send armoured vehicles and combat troops into eastern Syria to protect oil fields there, even as American troops are withdrawn from the country.
He said recent developments had shown that the “priority goals” of all countries involved in Syria — apart from Turkey — was to take control of the country’s oil resources.
“The only country to see human lives and brothers, and not the opportunity for grabbing oil or power when it looks at Syria, is Turkey,” Mr Erdogan said.
The US has justified moving troops to oil-rich areas of Syria, saying it’s to keep the fields away from IS control.