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Kurdish forces agree on truce with Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria

Xinhua, August 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Kurdish fighters and the Turkey-backed Syrian rebels agreed on a truce in a contested area in northern Syria on Tuesday, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported.

A cessation of hostilities was reached between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) group in the countryside of the northern city of Jarablus, said the report.

The truce came against the backdrop of a recent showdown between both rebel groups in that region, especially after Turkey pushed in with special forces, tanks, and FSA fighters from its side of the borders and captured Jarablus from the hands of the Islamic State (IS) group last week.

The Turkish move came to cut the road before the Kurdish-led SDF, who has made sweeping victories against the IS near the Turkish borders, which raised the ire of Ankara and nurtured its fears of a growing Kurdish influence at its backdoor.

After capturing Jarablus, the FSA reached areas in the southern countryside of that city, where they had several confrontations with the SDF fighters, coupled by Turkish shelling of the positions of the Kurdish-backed group.

It's worth mentioning that both the SDF and the FSA are supported by the air cover of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, which put Washington in a tight spot.

Tuesday's truce came apparently as part of Washington's effort to defuse the tension between both parties.

Turkey has long feared a strong Kurdish presence near its borders, which was one of the main reasons it crossed the borders with its tanks and Syrian rebels it was training last week.

The U.S. has warned the Kurds to withdraw to the eastern bank of Euphrates River in Syria, as the western side, close to Turkey, was apparently a red line agreed upon between Ankara and Washington to alley the Turkish fears of further Kurdish expansion.

For its part, the Syrian government condemned the Turkish military's intervention as flagrant violation to the Syrian sovereignty, while the Kurds said the aim of Ankara was not to fight the IS but to curb the momentum of the Kurdish groups.

The Kurds have further made several statements recently, promising Turkey of further escalation if it kept on targeting them. Endit