Turkey says Kurdish militia kills one soldier in northeast Syria despite ceasefire

• Turkey agreed with US to pause its offensive for five days to allow the YPG to withdraw out of a planned "safe zone".
• Defence ministry says Turkish soldiers were carrying out surveillance mission in Tel Abyad when attacked.

(ANKARA) One Turkish soldier was killed and another was wounded on Sunday after an attack by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in northeast Syria's Tel Abyad, the defence ministry said, despite a deal to pause military operations as militants withdraw from the area.

Turkey agreed with the United States on Thursday to pause its offensive into northeastern Syria for five days to allow the YPG to withdraw out of a planned "safe zone". The fragile truce had so far held up.

In a statement, the defence ministry said an attack by the YPG with anti-tank and light weapons had struck Turkish soldiers carrying out a reconnaissance and surveillance mission in Tel Abyad. It said the attack was retaliated, and added that Turkey remained committed to the truce deal despite the violations.