The U.S. and Turkey reached an agreement on Wednesday to create a safe zone in northeastern Syria in order to secure the territory once held by the Islamic State.
The deal was reached days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that the Turkish military was about to launch an assault on U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria, who were integral to the battlefield success against the terror group.
A U.S. defense official confirmed to ABC News that the two countries reached the agreement to address Turkey's security concerns, but declined to provide details. The deal reached on Wednesday has averted that crisis, for now. The U.S. and Turkey had previously reached agreements to conduct joint patrols in nearby areas, but Turkey has criticized the U.S. for slow-walking measures to counter what it sees as an existential threat, with Erdogan saying on Monday that it was Turkey's"top priority" to"eliminate" this"cancer cell.
Areas liberated from ISIS and now run by civilian councils affiliated with the SDF, still struggle with offering basic services, such as water, medical care and removing rubble. They're also having difficulty destroying mines and other explosives, and eliminating cells of ISIS fighters, which continue to conduct attacks. Those issues have been exacerbated by the withdrawal of some U.S. troops and all U.S. diplomats, according to the Pentagon report.
With a diminished U.S. military presence, the administration was able to secure added troop commitments from the United Kingdom and France, a U.S. official told ABC News last month.
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