Coalition says ‘good progress’ in north Syria buffer zone

Tal Abyad: The US-led coalition said Sunday that “good progress” was being made in implementing a buffer zone in northern  Syria  along the Turkish border.
Turkey and the United States last month agreed on the so-called “security mechanism” to create a buffer between the Turkish border and Syrian areas controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The YPG led the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in battle against the Islamic State group in  Syria , but Ankara views the Kurdish fighters as “terrorists”.
The United States and Turkey launched their first joint patrol of the border areas on September 8, but Ankara has accused Washington of stalling in the week since.
A coalition delegation on Sunday visited a military council in the northern town of Tal Abyad, from which Kurdish forces started withdrawing late last month.
“We are seeing good progress for the initial phase of security mechanism activities,” the coalition said in a statement handed out to journalists.