Reuters journalists at the border said bombardment heard near the Syrian border town of Ras al Ain on Friday morning had subsided. Ankara regards the YPG, the SDF's main Kurdish component, a terrorist group because of its links to Kurdish insurgents operating in southeast Turkey. Erdogan also said Turkey would set up a dozen observation posts across northeast Syria. Trump, however, has defended his decision as "strategically brilliant" and said the truce reached with Turkey on Thursday would save millions of lives. Erdogan, who also hailed the move, will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next week in Sochi to discuss further steps on the "safe zone."

Source: Dhaka Tribune October 19, 2019 10:07 UTC