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Kurdish-led forces start withdrawing from border towns in NE Syria

SDF fighters have withdrawn from the border town of Ras al Ain.

Zahraa al-Derzi
Press TV, Damascus

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces started withdrawing from Amuda and Darbasiyah border towns in Hasakah countryside in northeastern Syria on Thursday.

The Kurdish forces move away from the Turkish border comes as part of an agreement between Russia and Turkey to establish a safe zone in northern Syria.

The deal will see Kurdish militants operating in the region removed to beyond 30 kilometers from the border.

Once the area is cleared of the Kurds, Turkish and Russian soldiers will jointly patrol 10 kilometers to the east and west of the buffer zone to block the militants’ possible infiltration into the area.

Syrian government forces will also join Russian troops alongside the border.

On Wednesday, Russian troops crossed the Euphrates and entered the city of Ain al-Arab also known as Kobani.

The SDF says the Kurds are ready to discuss joining the Syrian army once the crisis in the Arab nation is settled politically. Some believe Kurds will ultimately benefit from the Turkey-Russia agreement.

Iran has welcomed the agreement, seeing it as an attempt to stabilize Syria and put an end to the clashes in the northeast of the country. 

The Russia-Turkey agreement is a crucial development in the region which will see Syrian forces returning to towns and villages in northeastern Syria. Now for Damascus the priority seems to be the country’s territorial integrity and the withdrawal of all foreign forces deployed illegitimately.


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