5 killed as Turkey conducts air strikes in Syria

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ANKARA, Oct. 18, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken from Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar on Oct. 17, 2019 shows smoke rising from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain during an attack launched by Turkish army. The United States and Turkey on Thursday reached an agreement on a five-day truce and the establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria, where the Turkish forces had been fighting against the Kurdish militia, following talks between the two sides in the Turkish capital of Ankara. "Turkey will end the operation in northern Syria only after the YPG and PKK terrorists leave the area," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Ankara.

Damascus,  Five people were killed on Friday by Turkish air strikes in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah despite a cease-fire agreement with Kurdish forces, state news agency SANA reported.

Some 20 others were wounded in the air strikes that targeted the village of Um al-Kheir on the outskirts of the city of Ras al-Ayn in the countryside of Hasakah province near Turkey, Xinhua reported.

The air strikes came after a cease-fire agreement was announced by the US on Thursday.

US Vice President Mike Pence said that Turkey has agreed to a cease-fire in Syria, under which the Kurdish forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces must dismantle their defensive fortifications and pull troops from the border area.