Kurds say pullout from Syrian border region complete

Kurdish fighters completed their pullout from a zone along the Syrian border as required under a US-brokered cease-fire deal hours before it was set to expire Tuesday, US and Kurdish official said, as the leaders of Turkey and Russia sought to work out the fate of the border region.

Turkey had threatened to relaunch its offensive if the withdrawal was not carried out.

A senior Kurdish official, Redur Khalil, said that even after the Kurdish pullout, Turkish troops and their allies were continuing military operations in northeastern Syria outside the withdrawal zone.

Ankara has agreed to the specified zone but Turkish officials said they still want to clear Kurdish fighters from their entire shared border.

The Kurdish-led forces notified the White House of the completed withdrawal in a letter, a senior Trump administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the contents of the letter have not yet been publicly disclosed.

The United States, meanwhile, ran into a new hitch in getting its troops out of Syria, with neighbouring Iraq's military saying Tuesday that the American forces did not have permission to stay on its territory.

The Iraqi announcement seemed to contradict US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who a day earlier said the forces leaving Syria would deploy in Iraq to fight the Islamic State group.

The conflicting signals underscored how the United States has stumbled from one problem to another after President Donald Trump abruptly ordered their withdrawal.

Amid fears the Americans' departure will revive IS, Esper is considering keeping some troops in Syria to protect oil fields held by Kurdish-led fighters, backing away from the full withdrawal first touted by Trump.

After the Iraqi statement, Esper said he would speak to the Iraqi defense minister on Wednesday and underlined that the US has no plans to keep the troops in Iraq "interminably" and intends to "eventually get them home."
If it doesn't, Erdogan warned Tuesday, "our offensive will continue from where it left off, with a much greater determination."