Kurds in Syria news

A car bomb that blew up in the Turkey-controlled Syrian city of al-Bab has killed at least 18 people and left 28 others injured, Turkish media are reporting. Ankara is accusing Kurdish militias of being behind the attack.

Moscow and Ankara have been conducting joint patrols in the Kurdish-populated towns of Syria as part of the deal struck between presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month.

The long-awaited US pullout from Syria appears to have been postponed, with Pentagon sources claiming some 800 troops will stay behind to “guard” Syria’s oil, in a mission even pro-war US politicians are calling “reckless.”

Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden – who, back in the good old Obama administration days, lobbied for the arming of ‘moderate’ rebels in Syria – slammed Trump for downgrading the US military to an oilfield occupation force.

Joint Turkish-Russian patrols will commence later this week as Kurdish forces continue leaving the 20-mile ‘safe zone’ along Syria’s border with Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to withdraw from the Syria-Turkey border, in compliance with a deal brokered by Russia. The Kurdish group said it agreed to pull out after extensive consultations with Moscow.