Clashes and Confusion Mar Attempt at Cease-Fire in Syria by Patrick Kingsley and Carlotta Gall – New York Times
Sporadic fighting continued in northern Syria on Friday, casting uncertainty over a U.S.-brokered truce, as conflicting reports emerged about whether Kurdish forces were retreating or hunkering down and whether Turkish troops were advancing or holding fire.
Clashes continued on and off in the vicinity of a strategic Syrian border town, despite President Donald Trump hailing the cease-fire, announced on Thursday night by Vice President Mike Pence, as “an incredible outcome.”
Pence had promised that fighting would halt for five days to allow Syrian Kurdish forces to evacuate a central pocket of northern Syria that Turkey wants to wrest from Kurdish control.
But though fighting eased, gunfire could still be heard in the area of Ras al-Ayn, a town next to the Turkish-Syrian border, during the early morning and early afternoon…