Syrian Kurds quit town on border with Turkey amid shaky truce

CAIRO/ISTANBUL – Syrian Kurdish fighters on Sunday withdrew from an embattled Syrian town on the border with Turkey under a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by the United States this week, a war monitor and Kurds reported.

Around 500 fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) completely pulled out from Ras al-ain after removing the dead and wounded from the town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added.

The SDF forces were replaced by Turkish-backed rebels who had previously besieged and shelled the town, the watchdog told dpa.

SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel confirmed the withdrawal from the town.

“As part of the agreement to pause military operations with Turkey with American mediation today, we have evacuated the city of Ras Al-ain from all SDF fighters. We don’t have any more fighters in the city,” Gabriel tweeted.

On Thursday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Turkey would pause for 120 hours an offensive it launched in northeastern Syria on Oct. 9, to allow Syrian Kurdish fighters to withdraw from a “safe zone” sought by Ankara.

Turkish and Kurdish forces have since accused each other of breaking the arrangement.

Turkey insists SDF leave an about 276-milelong, 20-mile-deep safe zone along its border with Syria. Ankara considers the SDF to be terrorists linked to insurgents at home.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there has been “relatively little fighting” in violation of the truce and that he’s optimistic about the situation.

He described the violence to ABC as “a little sporadic small arms fire, a mortar or two.”

The five-day ceasefire is to continue through Tuesday under the agreement. If the withdrawal is completed by then, Turkey is to halt is operations and the U.S. will lift recent sanctions imposed on Turkey.