Thousands of civilians flee Turkish attacks despite a ceasefire deal

ARK News: Heavy attacks on Wednesday by Turkish-backed groups near Derbasiya and Tal Tamir displaced thousands of civilians despite the Russian-Turkish ceasefire agreed to last week.

“There is a cease-fire agreement in place, which requires SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] to withdraw and Turkish army to stop aggression,” Mustafa Bali, the head of SDF’s press office tweeted.

The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) reported thousands of civilians had fled toward Hasaka city amid ongoing Turkish attacks. “The towns of Derbasiya and Tal Tamir are still being heavily attacked, even the ones in which we handed over positions to troops of the regime,” Bali added.

Yesterday, the Syrian army sent more forces to Derbasiya and Kobani to fill the vacuum left behind after the withdrawal of the SDF from the border.

However, several regime forces were killed and captured by Turkish-backed forces during clashes near Tal Tamir.

According to a Russian-Turkish deal reached last week at the resort city of Sochi following Turkey’s cross-border incursion, SDF was supposed to withdraw after a 150-hour deadline that expired Tuesday night.

On Tuesday, the Russian Minister of Defense declared a complete withdrawal of SDF from “safe zones” in northern Syria as the ceasefire expired. On Wednesday, Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced that Turkish-Russian joint patrols in Syria were scheduled to start on Friday.

Turkish attacks, however, have not stopped despite Russian and Turkish promises.

“It’s clear that Turkey has no intention of halting attacks. Russia and the US are responsible for bloodshed and displacement of thousands of civilians who are now fleeing their homes in Tal Tamir,” the SDF official argued.

The attacks followed the withdrawal of Syrian army forces from fronts around Tal Tamir, Derbasiya, and Amouda, which might indicate Russia was not satisfied with US troops staying in the oil-rich region of Deir al-Zour.

According to earlier ceasefire deals between both the US and Turkey, and between Russia and Turkey, Turkey is allowed to keep this area between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain.

“The SDF withdrew from these fronts to allow troops of the regime units to take their place, as part of their agreed withdrawal from the border zone: but Turkey has failed to observe the ceasefire, killing many regime’s soldiers as it pushes forward.”

Source: K24

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