Hassaké (Syria) (AFP)

Syria's Kurds said on Saturday that they would cooperate to ensure the "success" of a "security zone" to be set up by Ankara and Washington on the border with Turkey.

The establishment of this buffer zone, to be established in northeastern Syria to separate Kurdish territories from Turkey, was proposed by the United States to dissuade Ankara from launching a new offensive against the main Kurdish militia of Syria. .

The militia, the spearhead of the Syrian Democratic Forces Arab-Kurdish Alliance (FDS), has been a key partner of Washington in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. However, it is considered by Ankara as a "terrorist group".

"We will make every effort to ensure the success of the agreement with the Turkish state, and (the success) of the efforts led by the United States," said Saturday the top commander of SDS Mazloum Abdi.

"The SDS will play a positive role for the success of this operation," he added at a press conference in Hassaké, in the north-east of the country at war.

Also attending the press conference was General Nicholas Pond, a representative of the international coalition led by Washington to fight IS.

He stressed that the initiative was "the only way to secure the border area in a sustainable way".

Friday night, the US military command in the Middle East (Centcom) announced on its Twitter account that the SDS had destroyed Thursday some of their "military fortifications" at the border, photos in support.

"This demonstrates the SDS commitment to support the implementation of the security mechanism," he said.

On August 7, Washington and Ankara agreed on the establishment of a "joint operations center", based in Turkey, to coordinate the establishment of this "security zone".

Its contours are blurry for the moment - especially its depth - and no timetable has been advanced for its implementation.

In mid-August, the Pentagon had indicated that the agreement would be implemented "step by step" but that the first operations would begin "quickly".

Ankara assured that observation posts and joint patrols were planned.

The Damascus regime denounced an initiative in the service of Turkey's "expansionary ambitions".

© 2019 AFP