A new bout of deadly fighting has erupted between the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian military this week, coinciding with a top Turkish official's visit to Syria and continued tension over a deal to integrate the Kurdish group into Damascus’s forces.
The clashes have calmed down, yet the situation remains volatile. Damascus claims it took steps to de-escalate the fighting. "The General Staff of the Syrian Arab Army issued an order to halt targeting of SDF fire sources in Aleppo after neutralizing several of them, narrowing the scope of clashes away from civilians," the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
It said the army "stood up to its responsibilities in protecting and defending the people, without making any moves to alter control lines, limiting its actions to responding to sources of fire."
Several people have been killed since early Monday morning. "The SDF carried out systematic attacks today in Aleppo, directly targeting densely populated residential neighborhoods and Al-Razi Hospital. The assaults resulted in the death of two civilians and injuries to others, including several civil defense volunteers," the Syrian Interior Ministry announced late on Monday.
He described the escalation as "part of repeated attempts to undermine the 10 March agreement signed with the Syrian state." The SDF has blamed the violence on the Syrian army.
"A checkpoint jointly manned by our forces and the [Damascus-affiliated] General Security Forces at the Al-Shihan roundabout in [northern] Aleppo came under an armed attack by factions affiliated with the interim defense ministry, leaving two of our personnel injured with varying degrees of wounds," the SDF-affiliated Asayish security force said in a statement.
The SDF said in its own statement that the "attack carried out by factions affiliated with the defense ministry" is "a clear continuation of uncontrolled escalation that threatens the city’s security and civilian lives, and exposes the Damascus government’s inability to control its factions."
The Kurdish group announced in a later update that the fighting had spread to the Kurdish-majority Aleppo neighborhoodsof Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud. "Residents of the neighborhoods, along with the [Kurdish-led] Internal Security Forces [Asayish], continue to confront this aggression, taking all possible measures to protect themselves and civilian lives," it said.
The Syrian Interior Ministry rejected the statement and said Kurdish forces stationed in the two neighborhoods were "treacherously" attacking Syrian positions at joint checkpoints run by both sides – in violation of "the agreements in place."
The clashes coincided with a visit to Syria by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. "We have not seen any initiative or serious will on the part of the Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] to implement the 10 March [integration] agreement. There has been systematic stalling by the SDF regarding the agreement," Fidan said during a press conference with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani.
The Turkish foreign minister had threatened the SDF days earlier, saying that Ankara wanted a peaceful, negotiated settlement to the integration issue but warned that the "SDF should understand the patience of the relevant actors is running out." Fidan added: "We do not want to see any need to resort to military means again."
No comments:
Post a Comment