According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), fighting between the Syrian army and pro-Turkish factions claimed at least 23 lives in northeastern Syria on Sunday, September 3, after pro-Ankara militants attempted to enter the region.
The clashes left “eighteen dead among the (pro-Turkish) factions and five among the regime forces” in Hasakeh province, said Rami Abdel Rahmane, director of the United Kingdom-based OSDH, who has an extensive network of sources in Syria . According to the OSDH, they occurred in the Kurdish-controlled Tal Tamr region in the northwest of Hasakeh province.
Factions of the Ankara-backed coalition of rebel groups known as the Syrian National Army attempted to enter the region earlier in the day, the same source added.
The Syrian army and local fighters from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) responded, inflicting casualties, the Observatory added.
“Safety Zone”
The Tal Tamr area lies near a border strip under the control of Ankara and its auxiliary forces.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched several raids against Kurdish forces in northern Syria, which have allowed Ankara to control areas along the border.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long sought to establish a thirty-kilometer-deep “security zone” along the entire border with Syria.
A 2019 Russian-brokered deal allowed Syrian government troops to deploy along parts of the border area in return for Turkey stopping an offensive that had begun.
In addition, deadly clashes broke out this week between the Washington-backed FDS and local Arab groups in the neighboring province of Deir Ezzor in the east of the country. The violence left 23 FDS fighters, 39 local fighters and nine civilians dead, according to a new OSDH report on Sunday.
On August 27, the SDF arrested Ahmad al-Khabil, head of the military council of Deir Ezzor, a local Arab armed group linked to the SDF, leading to hostilities between the two camps in Kurdish-controlled areas of the province.
The FDS imposed a 48-hour curfew on Saturday, blaming “regime-linked mercenaries (…) who wanted to sow discord between its forces and the Arab tribes.”
“Address residents’ concerns”
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich and Maj. Gen. Joel Vowell, commander of the international coalition fighting the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), met in northeastern Syria with SDF members and tribal leaders from Deir Ezzor, the US said Embassy said in a statement on Sunday.
Participants emphasized the need to “respond to residents’ concerns,” guard against “external interference” in the province, avoid civilian casualties and “reduce violence as quickly as possible,” he said. -She adds. Ethan Goldrich and Joel Vowell reiterated the importance of the partnership between Americans and SDF in the fight against ISIS.
In fact, the FDS spearheaded the offensive that defeated ISIS in Syria in 2019. It controls a semi-autonomous Kurdish zone in the northeast of the country, including entire parts of Deir Ezzor province.
This predominantly Arab province is crossed by the Euphrates River, with the SDF on the east and Iranian-backed regime forces and groups on the west bank. There are also international coalition forces in the region, mostly American.
The Kurdish semi-autonomous zone administers the region through local civil and military councils to avoid disaffected local tribes, which are almost entirely Arab.
The second day of the curfew was relatively calm, with tensions appearing to persist in only one village among the five villages affected by the latest tensions, FDS spokesman Farhad Chami told AFP.
The conflict in Syria, which began in 2011, has left more than half a million dead and divided the country.
With AFP