Kurdish fighters pull out of flashpoint town: Syria’s defense ministry

A convoy of Syrian Kurdish fighters has pulled out of the flashpoint area of Manbij in northern Syria, close to territory controlled by Turkey, Syria’s defense ministry said on Wednesday. Some 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, the town occupies a critical spot on the map of the Syrian conflict, near the junction of three separate blocks of territory that form spheres of Russian, Turkish and – for now – U.S. influence. “According to information, approximately 400 Kurdish fighters have left Manbij so far,” the Syrian defense ministry said.