The Latest: Syrian rebels start leaving Damascus suburb

BEIRUT (AP) ' The Latest on developments in Syria's civil war (all times local):5:15 p.m.Kurdish-led forces in Syria say they have come under artillery shelling from the Turkish military for the second straight day in northern Aleppo, as Ankara continued its campaign to push the group back from its border areas.Turkey's incursion into Syria this week to capture the town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants was a dramatic escalation of Ankara's role in Syria's war. It was also a reflection of its growing concern of increasing Kurdish clout in Syria and at home. U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters seized the town of Manbij from IS militants earlier this month, raising concerns they will advance toward Jarablus along the border with Turkey.Sharfan Darwish, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces' local group in Manbij, said artillery shelling on Amarneh village, south of Jarablus, continued Friday. He said another village to the west also came under attack late Wednesday but said it was not clear if it was from Turkish-backed forces or from Islamic State militants.Turkish officials said artillery shelled Kurdish fighters for allegedly ignoring warnings to retreat from the village, where they had advanced a day earlier.___3:45 p.m.The United Nations is calling for the protection of people being evacuated from a suburb of Damascus and says their departure must be voluntary.A statement issued on Friday by office of the U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, says the U.N. was not consulted or involved in the negotiation of the deal reached between rebel factions and government forces in Daraya.Under the terms of the agreement, some 700 gunmen and 4,000 civilians are to evacuate the ravaged and long-besieged suburb southwest of the Syrian capital.The statement says "the world is watching." It describes the situation in Daraya as "extremely grave" and said it was "tragic" that repeated appeals to lift the siege of Daraya have never been heeded.___3:30 p.m.Syrian rebels and civilians have started leaving a ravaged and long-besieged suburb of Damascus as part of a deal struck with the government.The first bus with rebels and their families emerged from inside Daraya on Friday, surrounded by armed Syrian army troops.Under the agreement, the rebels will be allowed safe passage to the rebel-held northern province of Idlib, while the civilians will be taken to a shelter south of Daraya.Daraya's rebels struck the deal late on Thursday, after four years of grueling bombardment and a crippling siege by government forces that left the sprawling suburb southwest of the capital in ruins.___1 p.m.The Turkish prime minister vows to continue military operations in Syria until there's no "terror" threat to Turkey from the war-torn neighbor.Friday's remarks by Binali Yildirim follow Turkey's incursion into Syria. Ankara this week sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels retake the Islamic State-held town of Jarablus and contain the expansion of Syria's Kurds in an area bordering Turkey.Yildirim says the Syrian Kurdish militia's goal is to carve out a separate state ' a "dream" he insists "they will never achieve."He says the Turkish cross-border operation would continue until "we ensure 100 percent our border security and the life and property of our people."Yildirim says Turkish operations in Syria will continue until IS militants "and other terror entities are cleared from the region."Join the conversation about this story
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