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Syrian Kurds to remove fortification from border with Turkey
A spokesman for the Kurdish-led US-backed force in Syria says they have carried out a patrol near a border town with Turkey to select fortifications to be removed soon.
Mustafa Bali of the Syrian Democratic Forces tweeted that the patrol occurred Tuesday near Tal Abyad.
The SDF announced last week that it has begun withdrawing its fighters from the border towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn as part of a deal for a so-called safe zone in northeastern Syria involving the US and Turkey.
Bali tweeted that the SDF are working together with the US-led coalition “to make the agreement successful and to ease tensions on the border.”
Turkey has been pressing for a safe zone to ensure security on its border running east of the Euphrates River toward the Iraqi border.
Last Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will put its own operation plan into effect if Turkish troops do not control a “safe zone” in northeast Syria, which it has been planning with the United States, within a few weeks.
