ALEPPO, Syria — The battlefronts between the Turkish army and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) on the one hand and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the other have been relatively calm in Ras al-Ain in Hasakah province and Tell Abyad in Raqqa province. The air and ground shelling halted between the two sides after the United States and Turkey agreed Oct. 17 that Turkey's Operation Peace Spring would be suspended for 120 hours.
The SNA, which is affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, believes that the agreement does not necessarily mean that the battle is over but rather is a time limit for the SDF-led Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) to comply with the agreement, most notably by withdrawing from the safe zone some 20 miles (32 kilometers) along the Turkish-Syrian border.
SNA spokesman Maj. Yusuf Hamoud told Al-Monitor, “Phase one of Operation Peace Spring has been a success, and we managed to seize a large number of towns and villages. Had it not been a success and had not we made major advances against the YPG in record time, we would not have reached this agreement.”
He said, “The SNA welcomed the agreement because it allows us to meet the goals of Operation Peace Spring and forces the YPG to withdraw. This would save our Syrian people east of the Euphrates from hardship and ensure the terrorist group an easy exit,” Hamoud added.
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