Kurdish-led SDF Begins Withdrawal from Syria-Turkey Border

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has said it has agreed to re-deploy away from the Syria-Turkey border, in accordance with an agreement reached between  Russia and Turkey on Tuesday.

“The SDF is redeploying to new positions away from the Turkish-Syrian border across northeast Syria in accordance with the terms of the agreement in order to stop the bloodshed and to protect the inhabitants of the region from Turkish attacks,” the SDF said in a statement .

The Kurdish-led SDF said Syrian government forces will deploy along the border. It called on  Russia  to help ensure a “constructive dialogue” between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led administration in northeast  Syria.

SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali told the AFP news agency that they would redeploy to positions about 30 kilometres (18.5 miles) away from the frontier.

Meanwhile, the YPG/PKK terror group carried out an attack on Sunday in northwestern Syria, despite a Turkey-Russia deal for their withdrawal from the region.

Terrorists in the Tal Rifat region fired five artillery shells into areas controlled by the Syrian National Army (SNA) near Azaz, injuring a civilian.

The attack came after Ankara and Moscow reached a deal on Oct. 22 under which the YPG/PKK tourist organization would pull 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south from Turkey’s border in northern Syria within 150 hours.

Turkey  and Russia  agreed on October 22 that Syrian border guards and Russian military police would clear the border area up to 30km into Syria of YPG fighters over a six-day period that ends on Tuesday.

The YPG/PKK withdrawal began in line with the deal on Oct. 23.