BREAKING NEWS

Syrian Kurdish fighters informed U.S. they fulfilled ceasefire duties

The commander of Kurdish led-SDF fighters has informed the United States that it has carried out all of its obligations under a US-brokered truce to withdraw forces from a border area with Turkey in northeastern Syria, a senior administration official said on Tuesday.
"A letter came in from General Mazloum...that he had carried out all of his obligations under the arrangement that we had done with the Turks...to withdraw all YPG forces out of the Turkish-controlled safe zone," the senior administration official told reporters, referring to Mazloum Abdi, the head of Washington's former allies in the fight against Islamic State.
Ankara and Washington have been in close contact to agree that the withdrawal has taken place, the official said and therefore Turkey's pause in its military offensive into Syria would turn into a permanent halt of the campaign, as agreed under a deal in Ankara last week.
The five-day truce in Turkey's cross-border offensive to allow the withdrawal of Kurdish YPG fighters from the border area ends at 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Tuesday, and President Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey could then press on with fighting.
"We think that Turkey in the end will agree that the withdrawal has taken place under the terms of the agreement. This means that the Turkish pause becomes a Turkish halt in military operations," the official said.