AMN
Syrian Kurdish forces say Turkey is failing to abide by the terms of a US-brokered cease-fire. They say Ankara is refusing to lift a siege it imposed on a key border town in northeastern Syria 30 hours after the truce went into effect.
The Syrian Democratic Forces today called upon U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who negotiated the deal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to take responsibility for enforcing the five-day cease-fire.
The cease-fire got off to a rocky start, with sporadic fighting and shelling around Ras al-Ayn yesterday. The border town is a test for the deal in which Turkey asks that Kurdish fighters vacate the frontier zone.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Turkey-backed Syrian fighters have prevented a medical convoy from reaching Ras al-Ayn since yesterday.