Syrian troops swept through dozens of towns and villages in the country's north on Saturday after Kurdish fighters withdrew under an agreement that aimed to avoid a bloody showdown between the rival forces.
For days, Syrian troops had amassed around a cluster of villages that lie just west of the winding Euphrates River and had called on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces stationed there to redeploy their forces on the opposite bank of the river.
Overnight, SDF head Mazloum Abdi said his forces would withdraw early on Saturday morning to territory east of the Euphrates River as a gesture of goodwill, leaving the river as a frontline between Syrian government troops to the west and Kurdish forces to the east.
By midday on Saturday, Syrian troops were in control of the main town of Deir Hafer and surrounding villages whose residents are predominantly Arab, according to statements from the military.
Some residents had left in recent days through a humanitarian corridor set up by Syria's army but those who stayed celebrated the army's arrival.
"It happened with the least amount of losses. There's been enough blood in this country, Syria. We have sacrificed and lost enough - people are tired of it," Hussein al-Khalaf, a resident, told Reuters.
SDF forces had withdrawn east, some on foot, towards the flashpoint town of Tabqa- downstream but still on the western side of the river, according to a Reuters reporter in the area.
Syria's army announced it was aiming to capture Tabqa next. Some SDF forces regrouped in Tabqa and headed back west to defend some of their positions, the Reuters reporter said.
Clashes broke out in some towns as the SDF and Syria's army accused each other of violating the withdrawal agreement.
In a bid to calm tensions, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack travelled to Erbil in northern Iraq on Saturday to meet with both Abdi and Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, according to two Kurdish sources. There was no immediate comment from Barrack's spokesperson.
The two sides engaged in months of talks last year to integrate Kurdish-run military and civilian bodies into Syrian state institutions by the end of 2025, insisting repeatedly that they wanted to resolve disputes diplomatically.
But after the deadline passed with little progress, clashes broke out last week in the northern city of Aleppo and ended with a withdrawal of Kurdish fighters.
Syrian troops then amassed around towns in the north and east earlier this week to pressure Kurdish authorities into making concessions in the deadlocked talks with Damascus.
The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according t...
Indian police detained more than 2,000 protesters in Delhi on Saturday as authorities blocked a planned demonstration calling for the resignation o...
At least 12 people, including three children, have been killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a day after U.S. Presiden...
Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority. The airport remains closed until further notice.
Britain and Israel have reached a temporary compromise over the future of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, easing a diplomatic dispute that had threatened to further strain relations between the two countries.
South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday (9 October) escalating tensions with European allies and potentially targeting companies that provide services to the tribunal. The move came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority. The airport remains closed until further notice.
Turkic states are assessing the feasibility of passport-free travel between countries using national ID cards, Kürşad Zorlu, the Deputy Chairman of Türkiye’s ruling AK Party said on Saturday.
European Union measures suspending import duties on 80 per cent of Armenian exports to the bloc came into effect on Saturday. The temporary liberalisation measures are aimed at supporting Armenian producers and exporters following trade restrictions imposed on the country's products by Russia.
Georgia is enjoying one of its biggest and highest-quality grape harvests since independence. By 6 October, growers in the country's main wine-producing region, Kakheti, had delivered 182,210 tonnes of grapes, with 99 per cent rated medium or high quality, despite recent protests over prices.
Uzbekistan has unveiled plans to deepen economic ties with Central Asia and Azerbaijan, proposing shared artificial intelligence infrastructure, a critical minerals alliance and a regional trade strategy extending to 2035.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment