The majority of the area around Hasakah is held by Syrian Kurdish forces fighting ISIS, but there remain pockets of Syrian regime forces in the area.
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The YPG began the offensive after midnight to take the southeastern district of Nashwa, close to where a security compound is located near the governor’s office near the heart of the city, according to YPG sources and residents.
It had earlier captured Ghwairan, the only major Arab neighbourhood in Hasaka still in government hands.
In a separate development on Monday, Kurdish forces in the Syrian city of Hasakah violated a ceasefire agreement they had struck with Syrian army forces on Sunday under a Russian mediation.
Both incidents represent the closest calls between USA and Syrian military forces since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
The military pulled U.S. special operations forces from their northern Syria position after the Syrian military began bombing nearby, attacking Kurdish positions in and around the city of Hasakah, according to a United States defense official Friday.
As tension grew bigger, the Kurdish militias demanded the dissolve of the NDF in Hasakah, a request denied by the Syrian army.
There are 300 U.S. special forces in Syria, assisting local militias, including the YPG, in the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS). The toll includes 165 killed in opposition fire on the city’s government-controlled west, and another 168 in air strikes and bombardment on the rebel-held east. Later, he added, “You can label it what you want”.
In a statement, the military command said the Asayish were aiming to take control of Hasaka city, and the army had responded appropriately by firing at armed groups’ “sources of fire”.
Thursday’s encounter occurred as two Syrian fighter jets dropped bombs outside of Hasakah, apparently in support of Syrian regime forces that were fighting the Syrian Kurdish forces.
The difference between the bombing run last Thursday and nearly every other was the target: This time, Syrian jets were dispatched to hit US-backed Kurdish forces in the eastern city of Hasaka who were battling pro-government militia.
Al-Masdar News, a pro-regime website, said renewed clashes broke out on Saturday after the failure of mediation efforts in the neighbouring city of Qamishli by a Russian military delegation.
NTV said Turkey’s military fired 40 shells at four Islamic State targets in northern Syria, near where Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are preparing to battle Islamic State for control of the strategic town of Jarablus.
Washington has demonstrated its willingness to protect its Kurdish allies in Syria at a time when various other forces are lining up against the US.
The leader of the newly declared “Jarablus military council”, set with the aim of mounting its own campaign to seize Jarablus with SDF support, was assassinated on Monday, the Observatory said.
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“Right now in the city you do not have electricity, you do not have bread”, he said.
