Despite a five-day cease-fire the US brokered with Ankara, fighting continued Friday in the northeast Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn at the center of the fight between Turkey and Kurdish forces, according to reports.
Vice President Mike Pence announced the agreement Thursday after he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his country’s incursion into northern Syria — days after President Trump ordered US troops to pull out of the area.
The agreement was reached so that Kurdish fighters could leave a 20-mile-deep safety zone in Syria that Turkey had demanded and would control.
The Turkish government has insisted that the agreement is not a cease-fire, but only a “pause” in operations in the region.
Speaking at a news conference Friday, Erdogan said Turkey’s offensive would resume if Washington does not deliver on its guarantee to get Syrian Kurdish fighters out of the safe zone area by Tuesday night.
“If America can keep its promise at the end of the 120 hours, the issue of a safe zone will be resolved,” Erdogan said, according to CNN. “But if this promise is not fulfilled, we will continue with the operation with greater resolve than where we left off, the minute after 120 hours has ended.”
Meanwhile, Turkish-backed forces on Friday encircled Ras al-Ayn and were battling fierce resistance from Kurdish fighters inside.
A spokesman for the Kurdish-led fighters said they were not pulling out of the town because Turkish forces were still besieging and shelling it — while elsewhere along the border, calm appeared to prevail.
Erdogan denied any fighting took place Friday and said Kurdish fighters had begun withdrawing.
“There is no question of clashes. This is all speculation, disinformation,” he told reporters Friday, according to NBC News.
Turkish troops are remaining in the area in accordance with Thursday’s cease-fire agreement to allow Kurdish forces to withdraw, he added.
Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — allies of the US during the fight against ISIS — said that was not true.
Turkey-backed Syrian National Army fighters drive in Sanliurfa.AFP via Getty Images“The Turkish land and air bombing continue in Ras al-Ayn,” he said.
“Despite the agreement to halt the fighting, air and artillery attacks continue to target the positions of fighters, civilian settlements and the hospital Serêkaniyê/Ras al-Ayn,” he said in a tweet.
The SDF said five fighters were killed in the attack.
“SDF are committed to the ceasefire, but from last night until this morning we are seeing shelling on Ras al-Ayn by the Turkish military and its mercenaries on SDF and civilian Kurdish targets, and in particular on the Ras al-Ayn hospital in the city this morning,” SDF spokesman Merivan Qamishlo told CNN.
Getty Images“The situation inside the Ras al-Ayn Hospital is catastrophic. Three ambulance vehicles belonging to the Kurdish Red Crescent were prevented from entering and were shot at. The city is completely surrounded by air and ground from the Turkish military,” he added.
A senior US official said on condition of anonymity they were awaiting confirmation on the reported fighting, adding that it takes time for information to filter down to field units.
NBC News reported that its staff could both see and hear mortars, grenades, machine-gun and rifle fire in the town, although it remained unclear who was responsible.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also claimed Turkish forces had renewed their bombardment of Ras al-Ayn early Friday.
With Post wires
Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters on an armored personnel carrier wave as they head to cross the border into Syria.AP



