Turkey Pulling Out Troops From Syria’s Afrin, Official Says

The Turkish military is pulling out its forces from Afrin, a northwestern Syrian enclave which was captured by Turkey-allied rebels after a two-month siege earlier this year, spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

“We are leaving Afrin to the people of Afrin,” Spokesperson Hamdi Aksoy told media in Ankara on Tuesday.

His remarks came at a time as the Turkish military proceeds forward with the implementation of a roadmap in cooperation with the U.S. forces to ensure security and stability in Manbij.

The Turkish troops began patrolling in rural parts of Manbij as part of the roadmap, which envisaged withdrawal of the Kurdish parts of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-allied force whose command structure mostly comprised of Kurdish militia commanders.