The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Arab-Kurdish squads reported Sunday that 16 of their soldiers were killed in an attack by the Turkish army in northern Syria.
The statement of the SDF press service said that the Turkish army, despite the truce, attacked the positions of detachments in the Ras Al Ain area, as a result of 16 SDF fighters were killed, three were injured.
Turkey and the United States on Thursday agreed that Ankara would stop its operation in Syria for five days to give Syrian Kurdish self-defense forces time to leave the 30-kilometer zone along the border. General Mazlum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Arab-Kurdish forces, said that this agreement applies only to the zone between the cities of Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain – that is, only a third of the border zone controlled by Kurds. US Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey confirmed this data, noting that Turkey is negotiating with Russia and the Syrian authorities over the remaining areas.
Earlier, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held negotiations lasting more than 4 hours with US Vice President Mike Pence in Ankara, as a result of which the parties agreed to suspend the Turkish operation in Syria for 120 hours to withdraw the Syrian Kurds’ self-defense forces from the border with Turkey.