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On August 30, an alleged ceasefire agrement was reported between the Turkish Armed Forces and the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces in northern Syria. There are no confirmed detailes of the agreement. However, since August 30, the Turkish-led forces have not advanced towards Manbij from their positions at the Sajur river.
What is known is that, by August 31, Turkish-backed militant groups have declared a new operation aganist the ISIS terrorist group in the west of Jarablus and have already seized control of Zavgar village in the area. The operation west of Jarablus are clearly amied to link the territores controlled by Turkish-backed militants along the Syrian border and set a foothold for an advance on the strategic ISIS-controlled town of Al-Bab.
There are also reports that ISIS has destroyed two Turkish tanks in the town of Kalliyyah west of Jarablus where clashes have been ongoing since yesterday. There are no information about the fate of the tanks’ crews. If this is confirmed, the total number of destroyed Turkish tanks on August 31 and August 30 will hit three.
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Meanwhile, the Turkish daily ‘Dailysabah‘ reports that there is no ceasefire between Turkey and Kurdish forces:
Turkey cannot be equated to a terrorist organization like the PYD/YPG, EU Minister Ömer Çelik said on Wednesday, in response to claims about a ceasefire between the country and the aforementioned groups in Syria.
“The Republic of Turkey is an independent, lawful state,” Çelik said and added: “It cannot be evaluated as if they [Turkey and PKK/PYD] were equal and there was an agreement between them.”
Çelik also noted that the PYD’s activities in northern Syria benefit terrorists rather than Kurdish people.
He said that some of PYD fighters have crossed east of Euphrates but some remain to the west, which he said is unacceptable.
Çelik’s statement is in contrary with the US’ version of the situation:
“In the last several hours, we have received assurance that all parties involved are going to stop shooting at each other and focus on the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant [ISIL] threat,” Colonel John Thomas, spokesman for the US Central Command, said on August 30.
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Meanwhile, the Kurdish forces have launched an advane on the town of Al Bab from Afrin Canton in northwestern Syria. Since August 30, they have seized the villages of Harbu, Tall Qarah и al-Hawsh and now are preparing for further advances in the area.