YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said the air strikes had hit Kurdish districts of the city, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish groups, and positions held by a Kurdish security force known as the Asayish. The Syrian government did not comment on the alleged bombings.
Advertisement
It is totally unclear what started this fighting, but in addition to airstrikes there are reports that government forces are shelling the city with artillery, and that there are battles on the ground.
“Every hand spattered with the blood of our people will be held to account through all possible and available means”, it added.
Syrian Kurdish militia have seized several positions from government forces in the divided city of Hasaka, a Kurdish official said on Friday, expanding their control in one of the heaviest clashes yet between Kurdish groups and the government.
Syria’s complex, multi-sided war has created a patchwork of areas across the country controlled by the government, rebels, Kurdish forces or Islamic State.
The strikes hit three Kurdish-manned checkpoints and three Kurdish bases, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The increasing power of the Kurds is seen as a threat by the Syrian regime and in recent times, the two sides have clashed more frequently with each other, although Syrian air raids are nearly unheard of against Kurds, the Wall street Journal reported.
The Syrian government, which routinely uses its air force against rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad in western Syria, still has footholds in Hasakah and Qamishli, both in the Hasakah governorate.
The latest clashes are said to have erupted in Hassakeh on Tuesday and had spread to several locations around the city by Wednesday, according to the Syrian Observatory.
The YPG is a significant part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – a combination of Kurdish and Arab fighters – fighting against Islamic State (Isis) militants.
Advertisement
The YPG has emerged as a major fighting force in northern Syria in the past two years, becoming a key ally of the US-led coalition against IS. Last week, the SDF, supported by United States air strikes declared that they had recaptured the city of Manbij and ousted the militants from the region.
