If they do not withdraw, Erdogan pledges to eliminate Kurdish fighters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the "spring of peace" operation would resume from where it left off if the deal with the United States did not work, while Russian officials discussed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the reduction of escalation in northeastern Syria.

Erdogan said in a speech that Turkey would eliminate Kurdish guerrillas if they did not withdraw before the deadline, noting that he would discuss with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin areas of deployment of what is known as the Syrian Democratic Forces during their meeting this week.

Erdogan will visit Sochi for talks with Putin on steps to be taken and said he would implement Turkey's plans if no solution was reached with his Russian counterpart over Syrian troops deployed in northern Syria.

Turkey and the United States agreed on Thursday to halt Turkey's military offensive in northeastern Syria for five days until Kurdish fighters withdraw from the "safe area."

Erdogan said Turkey would "break the heads" of Kurdish fighters if they did not withdraw from the region within the deadline.

Ready and attacks
For his part, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar readiness of his country's troops stationed in northern Syria to resume military operation in the region if the Kurdish militants did not implement the ceasefire agreement.

"We stopped the operation for five days," Akar said. "In the meantime, the terrorists will withdraw from the safe area, their weapons will be collected and their positions destroyed. If not, we will continue the operation."

The Turkish Defense Ministry has announced that the YPG and the PKK carried out 14 attacks using light and heavy weapons during the past hours.

The ministry said in a statement that these attacks took place in Ras al-Ain, Tall Abyad and Tall Tamr, despite Ankara's commitment to the agreement signed with Washington.

Fortifications and arrangements
For its part, said the Syrian armed opposition earlier to the island that it has not yet monitored any withdrawal of what is known as the Syrian Democratic Forces from the east of the Euphrates since the announcement of the Turkish-American agreement.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that sporadic clashes broke out in the city of "Ras al-Ain" in the countryside of al-Hasakah, northeast of Syria after the opposition fighters confronted an attempt to infiltrate what is known as the Syrian Democratic Forces in the neighborhood of the city.

Al-Jazeera's camera detected defensive fortifications erected by SDF forces in the city during its battles with the Turkish army and the national army of the Syrian opposition.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that a delegation of Russian officials met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Friday to discuss the need to reduce the escalation in the northeast of the country.

"Discussions focused on the current situation on the ground in Syria in light of the escalating tension in the northeast," the ministry said in a statement. "The need to take measures to reduce the escalation of the situation and ensure security in those areas was also noted."

Earlier, Turkey and Kurdish units accused each other of violating the truce, which entered its second day in northeastern Syria, where sporadic clashes for the second day in the city of Ras al-Ain on the Syrian-Turkish border.

Sporadic clashes erupted in the city of Ras al-Ain between the Syrian opposition's national army and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the sources said.