ISTANBUL: Kurdish fighters killed one Turkish soldier and wounded five others amid a shaky truce in northern Syria, Turkey’s army said on Sunday, bringing its military death toll to 11 since the launch of its cross-border operation.

Turkey invaded northern Syria on Oct 9 to clear the border of Kurdish fighters after President Donald Trump said he would order American troops to withdraw from the area.

Turkey’s military said the attack occurred near the border town of Ras al-Ayn where its forces were conducting reconnaissance. The area falls within a 30 kilometre deep border zone Kurdish forces are withdrawing from, under the US-backed deal. The soldier was wounded on Saturday and died of his wounds on Sunday, the military said.

Syria’s state news agency reported its forces in the area between Ras al-Ayn and Tal Tamr to the south clashed with the “forces of the Turkish occupation.”

It wasn’t clear if the clashes were with the Turkish army or with Turkey-backed fighters. It also said its forces were continuing to deploy to areas along the border.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes pitted Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led forces against the Turkey-backed fighters south of Ras al-Ayn. The Turkey-backed forces are about 10 kilometers away from Tal Tamr town.

Despite the US-brokered ceasefire and a second one negotiated by Russia, occasional skirmishes have continued and both sides have blamed each other for violations. The Turkish military said its forces responded “within the framework of self-defense” to the rockets, mortars and heavy machine gun attack.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2019