Syria regime, Kurds agree Hasakeh truce
Regime forces and Kurdish fighters yesterday agreed to a truce in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh after a week of clashes, a Kurdish official and Syrian state media said.
A statement distributed to journalists by a Kurdish official said the agreement included "a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all armed forces from the city."
It said the Kurds and regime would also exchange any detainees or wounded, and reopen roads blocked off during fighting.
The official told AFP that the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian forces would withdraw from Hasakeh, while the police forces of both the Kurds and the government would remain.
He added that the deal was brokered "under the auspices of Russian military officials." A local journalist working with AFP said the city was quiet yesterday afternoon, with several stores reopening in the city centre.
On Monday, Kurdish, regime, and Russian officials met in the coastal Hmeimim air base to hash out an agreement to put an end to the outbreak of violence in Hasakeh.
Meanwhile, Turkey yesterday pounded Islamic State jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes as expectations grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the group after a deadly suicide bombing on its soil.
In new fighting yesterday, two mortar rounds fired from an IS-controlled area in Syria hit the southeastern Turkish town of Karkamis while three more hit the centre of the Turkish border town of Kilis, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
There were no reports of injuries although 21 people in Kilis have been killed by fire from Syria in recent months.
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