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The United States has evacuated Sarrin military base — the last major US base in northern Syria — with convoys of American troops crossing into Iraq.
Key points:
- Turkish militia have moved as close as 10 kilometres to Tal Tamr
- Syrian Government forces have moved in at the invitation of the Kurds as protection against Turkey
- The aid group Free Burma Rangers has been bringing survivors out of Tal Tamar
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said all US troops leaving Syria would go to western Iraq, where they would continue operations against the Islamic State.
President Donald Trump previously stated he was "bringing soldiers home" after announcing the withdrawal earlier this month, a move that cleared the way for a Turkish offensive against Kurdish forces who fought alongside the US against IS.
Just an hour after US troops moved through, the survivors of the brutal battle for the town of Ras al-Ain drove along the same road having finally been allowed to leave by Turkish-backed militias.
The Kurdish withdrawal is critical to avoiding more attacks from Turkey when a US-brokered ceasefire expires on Tuesday.
Local Kurds stood at the main intersection in Tal Tamr, which sits just outside a "safe zone" that Turkey said it would occupy, to protest the Turkish invasion.
Hundreds of civilians have fled to the town over the past week to escape advancing Turkish forces.
They were mostly silent as the US convoy drove past, although one man started a chant of "death to the betrayers".
"We are here for our families who are besieged in Ras al-Ain," said one woman, Samr Hussein."We hope they'll be able to flee from there and our wounded will be able to do that as well. Because they are our families, our people."
Turkish militia have moved as close as 10 kilometres from Tal Tamr.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the US convoy was leaving the Sarrin military base, which is situated further east along the edge of Turkey's proposed safe zone.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has justified his invasion of Syria claiming Kurdish forces are a terrorist group due to their links to Kurdish insurgents in south-east Turkey.
"They are here to occupy a country, to establish a new Ottoman empire," said Hudr Abdul Khader."Before this, we never shot at them, not even one bullet crossed the border. Erdogan is a very bad guy … He's a monster."
'We betrayed them, and it's just wrong'
Just after the US convoy moved through Tal Tamr, about six small trucks passed through carrying fighters loyal to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Government forces have moved in at the invitation of the Kurds as protection against Turkey, even though many Kurds fear persecution from the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Not all Americans are moving out. Dave Eubank, with the aid group Free Burma Rangers, has spent two days bringing survivors out of Tal Tamar.
He and his Free Burma Rangers medical team were last in Syria during the battle against Islamic State near Baghouz.
Then, his team was the only provider of frontline medical care to injured Islamic State women and their children. He said he would organised this mission in a hurry.
"It's been a rush because we did not expect the American Government to step out of the way and betray our friends," he said in reference to US-allied Kurdish forces."It was a big shock to us. I'm very sorry and very ashamed, and I pray there'll be a change from our government, and they'll be able to help these people."
Mr Eubank said his team had been able to go in and bring out the wounded only after Turkey had finally agreed to create a humanitarian corridor.
"There was one girl, shot in the arm, badly infected, you could smell it. And she didn't want to leave," he told the ABC.
"I told her, 'you're going to die here, you're going to die of infection, or they're going to kill you and you can't help anybody, you need to leave'. She just started crying and crying, saying 'this is my family'."
Mr Eubank said despite his further pleas she still refused to leave.
"I just grabbed her and I prayed, and I pushed her into a vehicle and she was yelling at me, but I closed the door and she calmed down."Mr Eubank said he was troubled by his country's abandonment of the Kurds.
"We betrayed them, and it's just wrong. When you betray someone it hurts your soul, and I think it hurts the soul of any American who cares," he said adding he hoped the US President would change his mind.
"Us being here creates a space where Kurds and Arabs can maybe solve a problem. Maybe they wont, but they've got a chance, but [if the US leaves] they've got no chance."
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