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Turkey launched an unprecedented cross-border offensive into Syria last Wednesday, saying it was aimed at ridding the frontier of both Islamic State group jihadists and a Kurdish militia.
IS said Tuesday its spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed in the Syrian province of Aleppo, as the US confirmed a "senior leader" from the group was targeted in the same area.
Kurds have carved out a semi-autonomous region in Syria's north and northeast, with their People's Protection Units (YPG) becoming a key partner of the US-led coalition fighting IS.
The YPG is also a key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which groups diverse factions battling the jihadists.
Ankara fears the emergence of an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria would bolster the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) across the border in southeastern Turkey.
At the weekend Turkish forces killed several Kurdish fighters while its tanks rolled across the border to help Syrian Arab rebels rout IS from the frontier district of Jarabulus.
The military operation triggered alarm bells in Washington, which is trying to contain the violence between its Turkish and Kurdish allies.
"In the last several hours, we have received assurance that all parties involved are going to stop shooting at each other and focus on the ISIL threat," US Central Command spokesman, Colonel John Thomas, said using an acronym for IS.
"It's a loose agreement for at least the next couple of days and we are hoping that will solidify" Thomas said.
He said the Turkish and SDF had opened communications with the United States and between each other "with the goal of limiting hostilities".
The Kurdish-backed Jarablus Military Council supported by the SFD confirmed a truce had been reached.
"We agreed on a ceasefire with the Turkish state via the United States and the international coalition" that is fighting IS, said council spokesman Ali Hajo.
- Turkey seeks US guarantees -
Speaking to AFP by telephone, Hajo said the truce took effect at midnight (2100 GMT Monday) and was expected to last "for an unspecified period of time".
"We are continuing to negotiate (with the Turkish forces) through the Americans," he said without elaborating.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported calm Tuesday on the southern front of Jarablus, which Turkish forces captured from IS jihadists last week on the first day of their incursion.
But Turkey neither confirmed nor denied the claim, saying only it awaited the fulfullment of a Kurdish promise to the United States to retreat east of the Euphrates river "as soon as possible".
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus confirmed Monday the army aimed to prevent the creation of a Kurdish-controlled corridor running nearly the entire length of the border.
Ankara sees the YPG as a "terrorist" offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party and fears an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria would bolster the PKK in southeast Turkey.
Also on Monday, Turkey warned it would carry out more strikes on the US-backed YPG in Syria if it fails to retreat from the border area.
But analysts said further Turkish involvement in Syria's five-year war and clashes with the YPG were fraught with risks and could stoke tensions with NATO ally Washington.
Defending a buffer zone between Kurdish-controlled areas on either side of the Euphrates could suck Turkey deeper into the conflict, said Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
"Ultimately, Syria could yet turn into a territorial extension of the protracted fighting between Turkey and the PKK going on since 1984," he said.
The PKK has waged a deadly insurgency on Turkish territory for more than three decades.
"It is hard to see how this does not get messy," the European Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a paper, referring to the situation in northern Syria.
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IS said Tuesday its spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed in the Syrian province of Aleppo, as the US confirmed a "senior leader" from the group was targeted in the same area.
Kurds have carved out a semi-autonomous region in Syria's north and northeast, with their People's Protection Units (YPG) becoming a key partner of the US-led coalition fighting IS.
The YPG is also a key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which groups diverse factions battling the jihadists.
Ankara fears the emergence of an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria would bolster the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) across the border in southeastern Turkey.
At the weekend Turkish forces killed several Kurdish fighters while its tanks rolled across the border to help Syrian Arab rebels rout IS from the frontier district of Jarabulus.
The military operation triggered alarm bells in Washington, which is trying to contain the violence between its Turkish and Kurdish allies.
"In the last several hours, we have received assurance that all parties involved are going to stop shooting at each other and focus on the ISIL threat," US Central Command spokesman, Colonel John Thomas, said using an acronym for IS.
"It's a loose agreement for at least the next couple of days and we are hoping that will solidify" Thomas said.
He said the Turkish and SDF had opened communications with the United States and between each other "with the goal of limiting hostilities".
The Kurdish-backed Jarablus Military Council supported by the SFD confirmed a truce had been reached.
"We agreed on a ceasefire with the Turkish state via the United States and the international coalition" that is fighting IS, said council spokesman Ali Hajo.
- Turkey seeks US guarantees -
Speaking to AFP by telephone, Hajo said the truce took effect at midnight (2100 GMT Monday) and was expected to last "for an unspecified period of time".
"We are continuing to negotiate (with the Turkish forces) through the Americans," he said without elaborating.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported calm Tuesday on the southern front of Jarablus, which Turkish forces captured from IS jihadists last week on the first day of their incursion.
But Turkey neither confirmed nor denied the claim, saying only it awaited the fulfullment of a Kurdish promise to the United States to retreat east of the Euphrates river "as soon as possible".
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus confirmed Monday the army aimed to prevent the creation of a Kurdish-controlled corridor running nearly the entire length of the border.
Ankara sees the YPG as a "terrorist" offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party and fears an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria would bolster the PKK in southeast Turkey.
Also on Monday, Turkey warned it would carry out more strikes on the US-backed YPG in Syria if it fails to retreat from the border area.
But analysts said further Turkish involvement in Syria's five-year war and clashes with the YPG were fraught with risks and could stoke tensions with NATO ally Washington.
Defending a buffer zone between Kurdish-controlled areas on either side of the Euphrates could suck Turkey deeper into the conflict, said Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
"Ultimately, Syria could yet turn into a territorial extension of the protracted fighting between Turkey and the PKK going on since 1984," he said.
The PKK has waged a deadly insurgency on Turkish territory for more than three decades.
"It is hard to see how this does not get messy," the European Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a paper, referring to the situation in northern Syria.
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