Kurdish forces withdrew from several border posts with Turkey, in northeastern Syria, pursuant to an agreement between Moscow and Ankara that enabled them to impose their control with Damascus on areas under the Kurdish autonomous administration. While the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) accused Turkey of violating the ceasefire and urged America to intervene, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned that Turkey was "going in the wrong direction" through its military incursion into Syria. Meanwhile, the Turkish Defense Ministry said five army personnel were wounded in the Syrian border area of ​​Ras al-Ain, in an attack by the YPG.

In detail, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdulrahman, said: “The SDF withdrew from six points between Darbasiyah and Amuda in the countryside of al-Hasakah, at the border with Turkey.

Kurdish forces still maintain positions south of Darbasiyah, according to the observatory. The observatory reported clashes between SDF forces and pro-Syrian factions near the town of Tall Tamr in al-Hasakah (northeast).

Russian troops began their first patrols in the northern regions near the border with Turkey yesterday, filling a vacuum left by the withdrawal of US troops.

Under the agreement, reached by Russia and Turkey, the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the border region with Turkey at a depth of 30 km and a length of 440 km. At first, Turkey wants to establish a “safe zone” between Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad, to which a large part of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees residing on its territory since the conflict began in 2011.

In Damascus, the official Syrian news agency «SANA», yesterday, that new columns of the Syrian army entered the countryside of Raqqa (north) and Hasaka (northeast), to strengthen its deployment in the northeast. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Turkey and its allies launched a major ground offensive against three villages yesterday despite a ceasefire and urged the United States to intervene immediately to stop the attack. The SDF said in a statement that the attack carried out by Turkish forces on villages "outside the ceasefire zone" forced thousands of civilians to flee.

"Despite our commitment to the ceasefire decision and the withdrawal of our forces from the entire ceasefire zone, the Turkish state and its factions continue to violate the ceasefire process and continue the war of extermination," the statement said. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned yesterday that Turkey was "moving in the wrong direction" through its military incursion into Syria and its agreement with Russia to conduct joint patrols in a "safe zone" there.

"Turkey is putting us all in a terrible situation," he said at a news conference in Brussels, ahead of a NATO defense ministers' meeting, this month in its military operation in Syria to confront Kurdish forces allied with the United States in the war on IS.

In the meantime, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said that five members of the army were injured in the Syrian border region of Ras al-Ain, an attack by the YPG. The attack came after units accused Ankara of attacking the area. The ministry said in a statement yesterday that the attack was carried out using drones, mortars and light weapons, noting that Turkish forces responded to the attacks in self-defense.

Russia asks the remaining US soldiers to leave

Russia has demanded the departure of any US troops remaining in Syria, accusing the United States of being an occupying power in Syria.

"As for the presence of US soldiers in Syria, our position is well known," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks quoted by the state news agency TASS. Moscow

Ankara criticizes US treatment of SDF leader

Turkey yesterday criticized the United States for treating the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader, Mazloum Kobani, as a "legitimate political figure."

Republicans and Democrats in the Senate urged the State Department on Tuesday to issue a visa to Mazloum Kobani quickly, so he could visit the United States to discuss the situation in Syria.

"We are very concerned about his treatment," said Fakhreddin Alton, director of communications at the Turkish presidency.

"He was issued with a Red Notice from Interpol," he told Reuters. Reuters

Secretary of Defense:

Turkey «going in

The wrong direction.