The Guardian reports:
Fighting is continuing on the border between Syria and Turkey, according to witnesses, despite an announcement from the US vice-president, Mike Pence, that Ankara had agreed to a five-day ceasefire to allow the US supervision of the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the area.
Intermittent artillery fire and ground clashes continued in the border town of Ras al-Ayn on Friday morning, one of the two main targets of the nine-day-old Turkish offensive, as the Turkish military and Syrian rebel proxies struggled to wrest control of the town from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Reuters reports:
The Kurdish-led SDF militia on Friday accused Turkey of shelling civilian areas in violating a five-day pause to an offensive in northeast Syria.
“Despite the agreement to halt the fighting, (Turkish) air and artillery attacks continue to target the positions of fighters (and) civilian settlements,” militia spokesman Mustafa Bali said.
He said Turkish forces had shelled the town of Ras al Ain. Shelling could be heard at the countries’ border on Friday morning despite the ceasefire, agreed between Turkey and the United States.
Foreign Policy reports:
Turkish-backed forces appear to be using white phosphorus-loaded munitions—a chemical that can maim and kill when it comes in contact with human flesh—in their violent campaign against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, Foreign Policy has learned.
Meanwhile, reports emerged overnight that Turkey continues to attack Kurdish fighters and civilian settlements in the border town of Ras al-Ain, despite a ceasefire agreement announced by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.
Turkish-backed forces targeted a Kurdish medical convoy and an American aid organization trying to get into the town to evacuate wounded civilians, according to a Syrian conflict monitor.