Turkish and Kurdish leaders accused each other of violating the US-brokered cease-fire in northern Syria Saturday.

NBC News reported a senior US official and the top Kurdish commander both said that Turkey is continuing to advance, taking territory in and around the border city of Ras al-Ain.



Kurdish commander General Mazlum Kobane said he is trying to pull his forces back from Ras al-Ain, but Turkey is not allowing it. He claimed Turkey wants to kill Kurdish fighters rather than letting them withdraw, as the ceasefire calls for.

Mazlum called for the “urgent opening” of a “security corridor” to allow for the withdrawal of Kurdish forces, which is a condition of the ceasefire agreement reached in negotiations between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vice President Mike Pence.

Clashes continued not only in Ras-al-Ain but also several other parts of northeastern Syria, with some crossing the border from Turkey to attack a village, a war monitor told the Associated Press.

Turkey’s Defense Ministry said it was “completely abiding” by the accord and that it was in “instantaneous coordination” with Washington to ensure calm. It cited a list of Kurdish attacks around and across the border.

Erdogan warned Friday that Turkey will relaunch its assault Tuesday when the deal runs out, if the Kurdish fighters don’t pull out of a zone 20-miles deep running the entire length of the border.

Turkey also said it has recaptured 41 suspected Islamic State members who had fled a detention camp amid the chaos caused by the fighting earlier this week. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 195 other suspected ISIS members had already been recaptured. The suspects would be relocated to areas controlled by Turkey in northern Syria, he said.

Shortly after a Turkish shell landed near a camp holding ISIS members and their families, roughly 950 people escaped, according to a report.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkey-backed Syrian fighters prevented a medical convoy from reaching Ras al-Ayn by closing the road leading to the besieged town.