bombing on 10 October 2019.
9 October 2019 The operation began on 9 October 2019, with Turkish
airstrikes and
howitzers targeting the
SDF-held towns of
Tell Abyad,
Ras al-Ayn where thousands of people were reported to have fled the town,
Ayn Issa and
Qamishli. The start of the incursion was symbolic, as it was the 21st anniversary of the
PKK leader
Abdullah Öcalan's expulsion from Syria in 1998 by the
government of
Hafez al-Assad. In response to the cross-border shelling, SDF's spokesman stated that Turkey was targeting civilians. Six rockets were later launched at the Turkish city of
Nusaybin as a response by the YPG, and two reportedly hit the Turkish town
Ceylanpınar. The SDF also announced in response to the start of the Turkish operation they would be halting anti-ISIL operations, and that two civilians had been killed. In response to the airstrikes, the SDF called upon the United States to establish a no-fly zone over northern Syria. During the day, under pressure from Congressmen and public opinion, Trump sent a letter to Erdoğan urging him to come to an agreement with
General Mazloum and avoid any further conflict. Enclosed within the letter was a copy of a letter written by the General detailing concessions the General would be willing to make. Trump also threatened economic retaliation, stating "I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy." According to official sources, Erdoğan took offense to the letter, reportedly throwing it in the trash. The White House released the letter to the press on 16 October, receiving wide ridicule.
Ground offensive By the end of the day, the Turkish military announced that the ground phase of the operation had begun from three points including
Tell Abyad.
10 October 2019 on 10 October 2019 Before dawn on the morning of 10 October 2019, the Turkish military officially began the ground offensive against the SDF; they also announced they had hit 181 targets in northern Syria, and 14,000 rebels backed by Turkey, including
Ahrar al-Sharqiya rebel group,
Sultan Murad Division, and
Hamza Division, are also taking part in the Turkish-led offensive. The SDF said they repelled a Turkish advance into Tell Abyad. Turkish-led forces made advances around the area of Tell Abyad and captured the villages of Tabatin and Al-Mushrifah. By nightfall Turkish Armed Forces declared control of 11 villages. As fighting went on around Tell Abyad, the Syrian National Army announced it captured the villages of Mishrifah, Al-Hawi, Barzan, Haj Ali and a farm east of the city. During Turkish air strikes during the fighting, SDF stated that the Turkish air force hit a prison that was holding captured ISIL fighters. Turkish media reported in the late evening that 174 SDF fighters were killed, wounded or captured. Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that day that 109 SDF fighters had been killed in the operation as well as an unspecified number of fighters wounded and captured. In a speech to lawmakers from Erdoğan's
AKP, the Turkish president also threatened to flood Europe with 3.6 million refugees if European nations continued to criticize the military operation, in particular if they labelled it an invasion. 70,000 people fled from border towns in the SDF following Turkish bombardment. According to Turkey's
Ministry of National Defence, one Turkish soldier was killed by the YPG.
11 October 2019 meets with Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. officials brief Pentagon reporters, 11 October 2019. , 11 October 2019. Two journalists were wounded in
Nusaybin, when the building they were filming from came under fire from
Qamishli across the border by SDF fighters. The incident was broadcast live on Turkish TV channels, according to Turkish sources. Three civilians were killed in
Suruc by SDF shelling. In response to the attack, Turkey shelled YPG positions in
Kobani, across the border from Suruç. Eight more civilians were killed later in the day in
Nusaybin and 35 were injured by SDF mortar attack, raising the total civilians killed by SDF shelling in Turkey to 18, according to Turkish sources. Seven civilians were killed in Syria by Turkish forces in the Tal Abyad area including three killed by Turkish snipers according to
SOHR. As reported on this day, according to the Turkish Ministry of National Defence, a total of 399 SDF fighters were killed, captured or wounded since the start of the Turkish military operation. The Syrian National Army stated to have taken the village of Halawa which is southeast of Tell Abyad. TAF and SNA announced the capture of
Tell Halaf later in the day and released a video from inside the town. In the city of
Qamishli, a suspected ISIL car bomb killed five civilians, while a reported Turkish artillery strike hit a nearby prison, and five suspected ISIL members, previously detained in SDF custody, escaped according to SDF. In the city of
Kobanî, the area immediately around a U.S. special forces base experienced heavy shelling by Turkish artillery; the U.S. troops did not retaliate, but withdrew after the shelling ended. Turkey responded by denying that it targeted the U.S. base, instead stating that it had fired upon SDF positions.
The Pentagon further raised concerns that the
Turkish Army deliberately "bracketed" US Forces stationed in Kobanî with artillery fire. According to Turkish Defense Minister, the mortar attack targeting the town of
Suruç earlier in the day was deliberately launched 1000 meters from the US base in Kobanî by SDF to avoid Turkish retaliation and the attack was in response. The
BBC reported that 100,000 people have fled their homes in northern Syria. The
Kurdish Red Crescent (
Heyva Sor) said there had been 11 confirmed civilian deaths so far. Turkey's military confirmed a soldier's death, and said three others had been wounded. on 11 October Turkey's Ministry of National Defence announced that three more soldiers had been killed by the YPG, two of which were killed in a mortar attack on a Turkish military base in a
Turkish-occupied part of Syria. This brought the total number of Turkish soldiers killed in the operation to four. Later in the day, the SOHR reported that at least 12 Turkish border guards were either killed or wounded in a confrontation with the SDF in Kobanî.
12 October 2019 Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army said they reached the
M4 highway, deep into Syrian territory and effectively cutting the supply line between
Manbij and
Qamishli. SNA also said they captured 18 villages close to M4 highway in eastern Raqqah. Turkish interior minister
Süleyman Soylu announced that nearly 300 mortar shells had been fired at
Mardin Province by the SDF since the start of the operation. Around 12:00 (
UTC+03:00), the TAF and SNA stated they had captured
Ras al-Ayn, but the SDF denied that Turkey had taken control of the city. Turkish-backed members of Islamist militia
Ahrar al-Sharqiya executed
Hevrin Khalaf, Secretary General of the Future Syria Party. Nine civilians, including Khalaf, were executed by the Ahrar al-Sharqiya fighters at a roadblock on the M4 highway south of Tal Abyad. Turkish news source Yeni Safak reported that Khalaf was "neutralized" in a "successful operation" against a politician affiliated with a "terrorist" organization. Her execution was widely described by Western sources as a
war crime under
international law. A spokesman for
Ahrar al-Sharqiya meanwhile announced that she was killed for being "an agent for U.S. intelligence". A Bellingcat video solidly traces the killings to rebels backed by Turkey Ahrar al-Sharqiya.
13 October 2019 Turkish service shows a residential building hit by a mortar shell in the southeastern Turkish city of
Akcakale, near the Syria–Turkey border, 13 October Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army announced the capture of the town of
Suluk, located in
Tell Abyad District, in the early morning. The SOHR confirmed that the Turkish forces and SNA had taken full control of Suluk, and clashes were nearing towards
Ayn Issa. The SOHR also reported that pro-Turkish forces had targeted an ambulance in the Tell Abyad area which remains missing. The SOHR also reported that the SDF was able to regain almost all control over the contested city of
Ras al-Ayn after a
counterattack.
Tell Abyad captured and M4 highway cut by Turkey and SNA Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army announced in the afternoon they had captured the center of
Tell Abyad. Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army fully captured
Tall Abyad late in the afternoon according to the SOHR. Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army also cut the M4 highway according to SOHR. Turkish sources also reported that SDF shelling towards
Jarablus had killed 2 Syrian civilians. In light of the pro-Turkish forces advance on
Ayn Issa, the SDF stated that 785
ISIL-linked people had escaped from a
detention camp in the area, SDF also stated the escapees received assistance of the pro-Turkish forces and Turkish
airstrikes. In contrast, Turkey stated that the SDF released ISIL prisoners at the
Tell Abyad prison before the arrival of Turkish forces. This statement was supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, but opposed by senior U.S. officials who stated that Turkish-backed
Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces were the ones freeing ISIL prisoners.
United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that US was planning to evacuate all 1,000 remaining soldiers from northern Syria. US also informed SDF of its intention to withdraw from military bases in
Manbij and
Kobanî and had already evacuated from
Ayn Issa according to SOHR and
The Washington Post.
Syrian government–SDF deal Shortly after the capture of
Tall Abyad by Turkey and SNA, a deal between the Syrian government and SDF was reached whereby the Syrian Army would be allowed to enter the towns of
Kobanî and
Manbij in order to deter a possible Turkish military offensive in those areas. SDF commander-in-chief
Mazloum Abdi said he was willing to ally with the Syrian government for the sake of saving the Kurdish population in Northern Syria from what he called a genocide.
14 October 2019 Russian and
Syrian forces were reported to have been deployed at the
front line between areas controlled by the
Manbij Military Council and
Euphrates Shield groups respectively, with further deployments to take place along the Syrian-Turkish border. In addition, the SOHR reported that the U.S. forces in the region were attempting to hinder the Russian and Syrian deployments in the region. The SOHR reported that violent clashes had continued in
Ras Al-Ayn and its countryside at the border strip, where the Turkish forces were attempting to encircle the city completely and to cut off the road between Ras Al-Ayn and
Tal Tamr, under a cover of artillery shelling and airstrikes with the purpose of taking control of the city by 15 October. Turkish aerial and ground bombardment were reported to have occurred in the border town
Al-Darbasiyyah targeting civilian houses which caused 4 reported injuries of
medical personnel as per the SOHR. Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a press conference that Turkey had received a positive response from Russia on
Kobani and that Turkey was at the execution phase of its
Manbij decision. Turkish Armed forces deployed additional troops to Manbij frontline as of the previous night according to Turkish sources. Turkish Minister of National Defence
Hulusi Akar said that
Tal Abyad and
Ras al-Ayn were under Turkish control and that works were ongoing for the whole region. The Syrian Army reportedly deployed to the town of
Al-Thawrah, as well as
Ayn Issa,
Tell Tamer and as close as 6 km from the
Syria–Turkey border. The Syrian Army further reported taking control of the
Tabqa Dam. The
Syrian flag was reportedly raised for the first time in years in several towns and villages in the
Al-Hasakah Governorate, such as the city of
Al-Yaarubiyah.
Jarabulus Military Council was reportedly to have targeted a vehicle south of
Jarabulus by a
guided missile leaving 2 persons dead in conjunction with an assassination that targeted members of Turkey-loyal factions south of
Azaz. Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army launched a military operation to capture
Manbij in the late afternoon. Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army captured 3 villages in the Manbij countryside shortly after the launch of the operation according to Turkish sources. At the same time, Syrian state media stated that the Syrian Army had started entering the town.
Announcement of total U.S. withdrawal from north Syria Later in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that all U.S. personnel would withdraw from Syria except those in
Al-Tanf base.
15 October 2019 The
SOHR reported that a counterattack was carried out by the
SDF in the outskirts and western countryside of
Ras al-Ayn city, and managed to achieve an advancement in the area recovering 3 areas lost previously. 2 civilians were killed and 12 were wounded in
Kızıltepe, Turkey after an SDF mortar attack according to Turkish sources. Turkish President Erdoğan, speaking at the
Turkic Council in
Baku, said: "We are now announcing the establishment of a safe area 444 km from west to east and 32 km from north to south, to which the refugees in our country will return." President Erdoğan also said a total of had been captured by TAF and SNA since the start of the operation. President Erdoğan also said a Turkish soldier was killed in Manbij by Syrian Army artillery fire and that there was an intense retaliatory fire for the attack which made the regime pay a heavy price. Syrian Army forces started entering the town of
Manbij according to SOHR, Syrian Army forces also entered
Al-Thawrah according to Syrian government media.
16 October 2019 Villages around the
M4 in
Jazira province were reportedly shelled by the TAF at
dawn while shelling and clashes had caused
power outages and a water shortage in the city of
Al-Hasakah, the latter of which returned after 5 days since it had been cut off, as per a SOHR report. The SOHR also reported that clashes continued to the west of
Ayn Issa as the SDF attempted to launch a counterattack where they were able to successfully regain 2 locations. Clashes had also broken out within the SDF-controlled camp in Ayn Issa between families of
ISIL members and displaced civilians which resulted in 2 deaths, as per the SOHR report. The SOHR further reported that Turkish forces and allied factions had launched a wide scale offensive and managed to advance into parts of the Ras al-Ayn city. Turkish President Erdoğan announced that Turkey controlled over 1200 square kilometers area since start of the operation. The
Russian military deployed near
Kobani on 16 October in the afternoon after crossing Qara Cossack bridge from
Manbij to the east of
Euphrates according to SOHR. The SOHR also reported that the Syrian Army had completed its deployment in
Ayn Issa, north of
Raqqa. This was precipitated by the sudden advance of the Syrian National Army towards the Kurdish-held border city.
U.S. army withdrawal from its military bases US forces withdrew and destroyed its former
air base, south of
Kobanî. The airbase was the largest U.S. base in Syria, capable of landing
C-130 as well as
C-17 heavy transport planes.
17 October 2019 TAF and SNA forces completely besieged and captured half of
Ras al-Ayn after getting around the town and cutting off the roads leading to it amid heavy clashes according to SOHR. Turkish Interior Minister
Süleyman Soylu stated that over 980 mortar shells and rockets were launched at Turkey by SDF since the start of the operation killing 20 civilians.
120-hour ceasefire and U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo at a joint press conference in
Ankara on 17 October 2019 On 17 October 2019, US Vice President
Mike Pence and Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reached a deal to implement a 120-hour cease-fire for Turkey's operation in northern Syria to allow SDF to withdraw from a designated safe zone, spanning from the Turkey-Syria border to 20 miles (32 km) south. This ceasefire deal was described as another US betrayal of the Kurds and a Kurdish surrender to Turkey by several US commentators and officials. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that it was not a ceasefire but a temporary pause to allow SDF to withdraw from the designated safe zone, after which if completed the operation would end and if not the operation would continue. The SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said that they accepted the ceasefire agreement only in the area between
Tall Abyad and
Ras al-Ayn. The SDF claimed that Turkey was violating the ceasefire and of shelling civilian areas of Ras al-Ayn. An unnamed US official said the following day that Turkish backed forces had violated the ceasefire, and the SDF had stopped fighting. Turkey announced it aimed to establish 12 "observation posts" in its safe zone, with President Erdoğan stating that Turkey will respond if the Syrian government "makes a mistake".
19 October 2019 SDF had not withdrawn from any positions east of
Euphrates despite the passage of 37 hours of the US-Turkish agreement to suspend the Turkish military operation for 120 hours according to SOHR. SOHR also reported that since the start of the operation, Turkish Armed Forces and allies had captured an area of . Both sides claimed that the other side was violating the ceasefire. The SDF stated that Turkish forces prevented medical aid from reaching Ras al-Ain, a claim backed by SOHR. Unnamed US officials said the "ceasefire is not holding". In the afternoon the SDF said an aid convoy had been let through, after having been prevented from entering the town since Thursday. whilst the SDF stated that 16 fighters had been killed by Turkish forces.
Continued U.S. withdrawal US forces withdrew from their
airbase near
Sarrin as well as their
airbase near
Tell Beydar and destroyed it per SOHR. As they withdrew, locals threw rotten produce and shouted insults at them, demonstrating a sense of betrayal among the populace. U.S. President Donald Trump favored leaving a contingent of 200–300 US troops in
Deir ez-Zur countryside of eastern Syria where majority of the country's
oil fields are located per
NYT and
WSJ. The SDF, however, stated that "The fields have stayed in our hands. We have an agreement with the [Syrian] regime to give them some of our positions along the Turkish border, but we have not negotiated with them on the oil fields yet. There will probably be a version of joint control and revenue sharing with the regime from these fields. I don’t know if Trump understands this."
21 October 2019 The SOHR reported continued ceasefire violations despite the withdrawal of the SDF from
Ras al-Ayn. Per SOHR, Turkish
drone strikes had targeted a vehicle carrying 4 members of the SDF near
Ain Issa, resulting in the death of all fighters. The Abu Rasin area, east of Ras al-Ayn also experienced heavy clashes and shelling by Turkey as per SOHR. On the aftermath of the SDF withdrawal from the Ras al-Ayn, there were widespread accounts of looting, theft, burning of houses and kidnappings by the pro-Turkish forces with documented examples of members of the
Hamza Division per to the SOHR. According to Syrian state news channel Al-Ekhbaria, Syrian President Assad has told Russian President Putin that his government rejects the occupation of Syria's lands under any pretext in a phone call today. In a reference to the SDF during his visit to the war zone near Al-Habeet in Idlib, the Syrian President Assad stated that "We said we are ready to support any group that takes up popular resistance against Erdogan and Turkey. This is not a political decision, we have not made a political decision, this is a constitutional duty and this is a national duty. If we don't do this, we don't deserve the homeland." U.S. senator
Mitch McConnell introduced a resolution in opposition to President Trump's withdrawal from Syria.
Jim Jeffrey, US special envoy for Syria and the global coalition against ISIL, said that he was not consulted or advised in advance about the withdrawal of the US from Syria.
Russian–Turkish memorandum . On 22 October 2019, Russian President
Vladimir Putin and Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met in
Sochi and
reached an agreement about the situation in Syria. They subsequently released a 10-point memorandum detailing the provisions of the agreement. In the agreement, the established status quo of the Operation Peace Spring area, covering Tell Abyad and Ras Al Ayn with a depth of 32 kilometers from the border, will be maintained. US lawmakers publicly criticized Trump's decision to lift the sanctions.
Dmitry Peskov, the Russian presidential press secretary, urged the Kurdish forces to withdraw from Syria's border namely because the Syrian border guards and Russian military police would have to step back otherwise, adding that the remaining Kurdish units would be 'steamrolled' by the Turkish military. Peskov further stated that the United States had both betrayed and abandoned the Kurds despite being their closest ally in recent years. As
Newsweek first reported, it's stated that the United States is considering and preparing to deploy tanks and troops to defend the oil in eastern Syria. Even though the stated purpose is preventing ISIL from regaining the oil fields, the effort is just as likely an attempt to block Syria and Russia.
24 October 2019 Syria's state news agency
SANA reported that Turkish troops and allied fighters attacked Syrian army positions outside
Tal Tamr, resulting in several Syrian casualties as they fought back, and clashed with Kurdish-led fighters. The SOHR also confirmed clashes between the SDF and the Syrian National Army near Tal Tamr. The Kurdish-led SDF said that three of its troops were killed during the fighting with the Syrian National Army. among comments by analysts that Idlib, the remaining Turkey-supported rebel stronghold, was the Syrian government's next target. During the NATO meeting, Germany's Defense Minister
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had presented a proposal for an internationally monitored security zone in northeast Syria to be mandated by the United Nations. The following day, the Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov rejected the idea of a NATO-controlled security zone in Syria. On 26 October, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also rejected the German plan for an international security zone and said that the proposal was not realistic.
25 October 2019 US Defense Secretary
Mark Esper said the United States would send troops, including 'mechanized' forces, to defend the oil in eastern Syria to keep it from ISIL. It was unclear whether the Kurds would welcome the Americans again in the aftermath of the US withdrawal, as Syrian Kurdish leader Ilham Ahmed commented earlier on 24 October that "If the U.S. presence in the area is not going to benefit us when it comes to stability, security, and [stopping] the genocide and ethnic cleansing, they won’t be welcomed." The Russian Defense Ministry announced that around 300 Russian military police have arrived in Syria. The military police, from the Russian region of
Chechnya, would patrol the border region and help with the withdrawal of the Kurdish forces from the border region. The SOHR also reported the convoy when it earlier arrived from Iraq. Casualties were reported after clashes in Tal Tamr and Ras al-Ayn, nine dead among the pro-Turkish forces and six dead among the SDF.
27 October 2019 The SDF released a statement saying: "The SDF is redeploying to new positions away from the Turkish–Syrian border across northeast Syria in accordance with the terms of the agreement in order to stop the bloodshed and to protect the inhabitants of the region from Turkish attacks."
29 October 2019 The SOHR reported reoccurring clashes between joint Syrian–SDF forces and Turkish-led forces in the area between Tal Tamr and Ras al-Ayn. During the clashes along the border, Turkish forces reportedly killed 6 Syrian soldiers near Ras al-Ayn. Meantime, Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced that they have captured 18 persons who stated to be Syrian government forces. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the Kurdish-led armed forces had withdrawn from the safe zone along the Syria–Turkey border. == Post-ceasefire activity ==