Yesterday’s clashes in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli were apparently no one-off deal, and fighting rages today between the Kurdish YPG and members of a pro-Syrian government militia in the area. The pro-government forces had been holed up in a prison that is now under the control of the Kurdish security forces.
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In a report a year ago, Amnesty International said the PYD had carried out enforced removals of the Arab and Turkmen populations in northern Syria.
Five members of the Kurdish internal security force, the Asayish, were also killed in the fighting in Qamishli which the official said was the second most violent between the government and Kurdish forces since the Syria conflict began in 2011.
All claims of the Asayish and People’s Protection Units (YPG) seizing the Qamishli Military Airport have been denied as well.
The Syrian army could not be reached for comment.
Qamishli is under the shared control of the Syrian regime and Kurdish authorities, who have declared zones of “autonomous administration” across parts of north and northeast Syria.
Qamishli is seen as the unofficial capital of Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria and has been split between Kurds and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2012.
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At least three Asayish members died, while Kurdish forces killed at least four NDF members, injured 12 and took several more prisoner, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Kurds have enjoyed considerable self-rule, with the Syrian government immersed in a civil war raging elsewhere in the nation. There have been previous clashes, for example in January, but also collaboration in anti-Islamic State advances.
