BEIRUT, Lebanon — Turkish forces and Turkish-backed militias appeared to have clashed with the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led militia in northeastern Syria on Thursday, raising the temperature in a volatile area where the Syrian government, Turkish forces, Kurdish-led fighters and Russia are maneuvering for position after the abrupt pullout of American troops. Turkish-backed forces pushed into several villages held by the Syrian Army, capturing one of them and causing an unspecified number of casualties, according to the Syrian government news agency. Fighting between the Kurdish-led forces and Turkey would violate the United States-brokered cease-fire that President Trump said this week had brought peace to the area. But fighters with the Turkish-backed militias, known as the Syrian National Army, denied attacking the villages on Thursday. Turkish forces seized the town last week after the Syrian Democratic Forces, a former ally of the United States, and American troops withdrew from it in advance of the Turkish incursion.

Source: New York Times October 24, 2019 16:14 UTC