According to an anonymous source at the Washington Post, the US message came after US troops were forced to abandon a base in the city of Ain Issa, after Turkish forces approached. According to the reports, the Turkish military has taken control of a nearby highway, preventing US supplies from reaching the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the area - which is the Kurdish force that helped the US defeat IS.

About 1000 people

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper tells CBS News that it is withdrawing its troops, around 1,000, as it fears that the SDF could reach an agreement with Syria and Russia, which could cause US troops in the area to end up in the crossfire.

"We have US troops that are likely to fall between two opposing armies advancing and that is a very unsustainable situation," Esper told the TV channel, according to the Washington Post, and continues:

"So I talked to the president last night after discussions with the rest of the National Security Council, and he decided that we should begin to consciously withdraw the forces in northern Syria."

Several journalists killed

According to Expressen, a convoy met with journalists of Turkish air bombs on Sunday. According to SDF as escorting the convoy, at least three journalists must have been killed, the number of injured still unclear.

According to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, 15 people died in the attack.