5 killed by Turkish airstrikes in Syria's Hasakah despite cease-fire agreement

DAMASCUS, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of five people were killed Friday by Turkish airstrikes in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah despite a cease-fire agreement with Kurdish forces, state news agency SANA reported.

Some 20 others were wounded in the airstrikes that targeted the village of Um al-Kheir on the outskirts of the city of Ras al-Ayn in the countryside of Hasakah province near Turkey.

The airstrikes came as a cease-fire agreement was announced on Thursday by the United States when U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Turkey has agreed to a cease-fire in Syria, under which the Kurdish forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces must dismantle their defensive fortifications and pull troops from the border area.