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Syrian Kurds evacuate thousands from city

“The Syrian regime would be well advised not to do things that would place them at risk”, he said.

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The YPG, or People’s Protection Units, has meanwhile prioritized carving out and safeguarding predominantly Kurdish regions of northern Syria.

The Pentagon said the us -led coalition aircraft were sent near Hasaka in response to the bombings to protect coalition special operation forces on the ground. There was a small number of U.S. Special Operators acting as advisers to the YPG when the Syrian airstrikes began.

When the strikes began, the “coalition forces on the ground” tried reaching the Syrian jets on a common radio frequency, but received no response, Davis added.

The Observatory says at least 13 people, including children and women, have been killed as a result of shelling by the army on Kurdish-controlled areas of Hasaka.

Also Friday, SDF official Nasser Haj Mansour told The Associated Press that fighting erupted again and was underway in several neighborhoods of the city.

“We are fighting mercenaries”, he said, referring to pro-government gunmen fighting alongside Assad’s forces. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Tehran on Thursday. The U.S. relayed the warning to Syria through Russian Federation because they are allied with the Syrian government in that country’s civil war. Ankara also considers the YPG a terrorist organization because of its links to Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

However, Turkey and Iran have large Kurdish communities and both appear to be concerned about Syria’s Kurds gaining more areas under their control on the border with Turkey.

Jwan Mohammed, a former Kurdish official, said there was intense fighting overnight.

The US-led coalition scrambled planes near the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, after Syrian SU-24 airplanes dropped bombs “dangerously near” the US Special Forces operators embedded with the Kurdish YPG militia in the area. Speaking from Qamishli, he said that there were calls through mosques loudspeakers for the evacuation of civilians stuck in the areas of fighting.

Syrian Kurdish civilians flee reported shelling in the northeastern governorate of Hasakah, toward the city of Qameshli, on August 19.

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It is the second major eruption of fighting between the YPG and Syrian government fighters this year.

Syrian planes bomb Kurdish-held city – militia Observatory