Russia on Tuesday (October 29th) announced the end of the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from northern Syria, where deadly fighting between Syrian and Turkish soldiers is adding to the volatility of the situation on the ground.

According to the terms of an agreement reached on October 22 by Moscow and Ankara, the Kurdish militia of the People's Protection Units (YPG) had until Tuesday 3 pm GMT to withdraw from its border positions with Turkey.

"The withdrawal of armed units from the territory on which a security corridor is to be created has been completed earlier than planned," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was informed by Moscow of this "total" withdrawal.

>> Read: "The Turkish-Russian agreement buries the ephemeral autonomy of the Kurds of Syria"

Ankara launched an offensive on Oct. 9 against the YPG, with the stated goal of setting up a "security zone" some 30 kilometers deep to drive the militia away, before interrupting its operation in favor of two militants. agreements negotiated separately with the United States and Russia.

Russian-Turkish patrols

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Tuesday that Russian-Turkish patrols will begin "soon" to check whether Kurdish fighters have actually withdrawn from the buffer zone. Turkey "will not hesitate" to resume military operations in northeastern Syria if it finds Kurdish fighters near its border, has also warned from Geneva Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Shortly before, the Ministry of Defense reported capturing 18 people who claimed to be elements of the Syrian regime near Ras al-Ain, a strategic border town.

On Tuesday, fighting between the Turkish and Syrian armies for the first time since the arrival of Syrian regime soldiers in northern Syria, who have deployed at the request of the Kurds after the announcement of the US withdrawal.

Although the Ankara offensive has been stalled since the Russian-Turkish agreement, the truce is fraught with clashes between Syrian groups protested and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), dominated by the YPG and now supported by Damascus.

Moscow and Tehran criticize Washington

Five Syrian soldiers were killed by Turkish "artillery fire", and a sixth was "executed" by protesters rebels near the village of Al-Assadiya, less than 10 km from the border, according to the Observatory Syria Human Rights (OSDH). Clashes have also raged between Damascus soldiers and Syrian herders in Ankara, the OSDH said.

On Tuesday, a Russian military police patrol at the Derbassiyé border crossing (north-east) was also the target of an Ankara shelling, according to the official Sana news agency, which denounced a "Turkish aggression" ". She reported six wounded Syrian civilians.

Meanwhile, Iran and Russia on Tuesday condemned the decision of US President Donald Trump to maintain a US military presence near the oil fields of northeastern Syria with the stated purpose of preventing fighters from the state organization. Islamic to seize it.

"It seems that the United States remains to protect the oil, at least President Trump is honest in saying what are the US intentions," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said ironically in Geneva. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that "any unlawful exploitation of the natural resources of a sovereign state without the consent of the sovereign state is illegal".

With AFP and Reuters