Dozens of vehicles rolled out of a besieged Syrian border town, evacuating Kurdish fighters and civilians and opening the way for Turkish-backed forces to take over in the first pullback under a three-day-old U.S.-brokered cease-fire. Turkey says it wants a “safe zone” clear of the Kurdish fighters — whom it considers terrorists — across the entire northeast border. For the moment, the pull-back focused on Ras al-Ayn, a town that has been a major battle zone since Turkey launched its invasion Oct. 9. But Kurdish civilians fled in the convoy as well, fearing atrocities by the Turkish-backed Syrian forces. So far, the Syrian forces have moved into only one location directly on the border, the town of Kobani, and a few positions farther south.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 20, 2019 17:03 UTC