Syrian Democratic Forces seal US-brokered ceasefire pact with Turkish-backed rebels in Syria

The clashes in Manbij, an Arab-majority city, have killed 218 combatants since Turkish-backed groups launched offensives in the north.

The Kurdish-led force controlling northeast Syria on Wednesday informed that it had reached a ceasefire with Turkish-backed fighters in Manbij, after Islamist-led rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad's government.

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters preparing rockets to be fired towards areas in northeastern Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).(AFP)

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also said that the said ceasefire was brokered by the United States.

"We have reached a ceasefire agreement in Manbij via US mediation," SDF commander Mazloum Abdi was quoted as saying by AFP.

He said fighters of the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council "will be withdrawn from the area as soon as possible".

"Our goal is to reach a ceasefire across Syria and start a political process for the future of the country," Abdi added.

The clashes in Manbij, an Arab-majority city, have killed 218 combatants since Turkish-backed groups launched offensives in the north following the ouster of Assad on Sunday.

Abdi had last week said that the United Nations had been in touch with the SDF about helping to "shape a political resolution for Syria" as rebels seized power.

The US-backed SDF fighters spearheaded an offensive that defeated the Islamic State group's self-declared caliphate in Syria in 2019.

On Tuesday, US Central Command said its chief General Michael Kurilla had visited US bases and SDF partners in Syria.

The Kurdish rebels vs Turkey fight in Syria

Earlier this month, the pro-Turkey fighters seized the strategic northern enclave of Tal Rifaat from Kurdish forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

Ankara sees the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which dominate the SDF, as an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Arab-majority Tal Rifaat and Manbij are among three Kurdish-held areas in the north that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had repeatedly threatened to seize.

Meanwhile the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham has seized power in the capital city of Damascus after toppling the Bashar Al Assad regime late Sunday night. Assad has sought refuge in Russia as the rebels take control of the government from Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Al Jalali.