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| Turkey to suspend Syria offensive, Mike Pence announces | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in northern Syria to let Kurdish-led forces withdraw, US Vice-President Mike Pence has announced. | |
| All military operations will be paused for five days, and the US will help facilitate an "orderly withdrawal" of Kurdish-led troops from what Turkey has termed a "safe zone" on the border. | |
| Turkey launched its assault last week. | |
| It aimed to repel a Kurdish militia that it views as a terrorist group, and resettle Syrian refugees in the area. | |
| Critics fear this could lead to ethnic cleansing of the local Kurdish population. | |
| The cross-border offensive came after US President Donald Trump pulled US forces out of the border region. | |
| His decision prompted a raft of criticism at home and abroad, with some accusing him of giving Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "green light" for the operation. | |
| Mr Trump tweeted about the ceasefire before Mr Pence announced it, writing that "millions of lives will be saved!" | |
| Mr Pence thanked Donald Trump's "strong leadership" during the announcement. | |
| "He wanted a ceasefire. He wanted to stop the violence," the vice-president said. |