Kurdish-backed forces agree on ceasefire with Turkish army in northern Syria

A Kurdish-led rebel group said it had reached a ceasefire agreement with Turkish military forces on Tuesday, in a bid to bring a temporary truce to a contested area in northern Syria.

In a statement, the Jarablus Military Council (JMC), which is backed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said the ceasefire agreement was reached with the Turkish army under the mediation of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition.

The JMC said the ceasefire started at midnight Monday in the countryside of the northern city of Jarablus, which was overran last week by Turkish forces and Syrian rebel group, called Free Syrian Army (FSA).

"After intensified negotiations, and under the auspices of the international coalition under the leadership of the United States, and to curb the bloodshed of the innocents, we declare that we reached a temporary ceasefire... with the forces of the Turkish occupation," the statement said.

It added that the mediators are trying to make the ceasefire permanent.

"Our acceptance of the ceasefire doesn't mean our acceptance to the Turkish occupation of Jarablus in any way possible," the statement read.

The JMC stressed that the deal was concluded with the Turkish forces, not the FSA, which is backed by Turkey.

One of the SDF officers confirmed to Xinhua, via a phone call, the news of the ceasefire deal.

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.

Following 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 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 reason it crossed the borders with its tanks and Syrian rebels it was training.

The U.S. has warned the Kurds to withdraw to the eastern bank of Euphrates, as apparently the western side, close to Turkey, was 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 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 further made several statements, in which they threatened Turkey of further escalation.

Source : XINHUA