Fierce clashes reported on Friday between Turkish-backed National Army and Kurdish forces in northeastern Hasakah province, following a series of attacks and car bombs by US-backed Kurdish fighters on opposition areas, local activists said.
The clashes have left casualties from both warring parties near Ras Al-Ayn region.
The Turkish military and the Syrian National Army attacked Kurdish forces in Ras Al-Ayn in October 2019.
Kurdish forces agreed to withdraw from a 120-kilometer (75 mile) long, Arab-majority segment of the 440-kilometer (275-mile) border zone, although clashes have been reported since.
The National Army is an umbrella group in northern Syria consisting of an assortment of rebel forces. Many of the group’s factions, made up largely of Arab fighters, had already fought at Turkey’s behest in two previous military operations over the past three years.
Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, terrorists for their links to a decades-long Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey that has killed tens of thousands. The same fighters were the United States' partners on the ground in fighting the Islamic State group.
Zaman Al Wasl
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