Two fighters were killed and several wounded in fighting between Turkish-backed factions in Sari Kani on Monday night amid disagreements over control of looted property in the town, once home to a diverse population including both Arabs and Kurds.
UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported “violent clashes” with heavy weaponry between Ahrar al-Sharqiya and the al-Mutasim brigade in several neighbourhoods on Monday evening, resulting in the death of two Ahrar al-Sharqiya fighters.
Ahrar al-Sharqiya is known most notably for its suspected involvement in the murder of prominent Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf in October 2019.
Syrian state media outlet SANA also reported the fighting, adding that Ankara has sent military reinforcements to the area in recent weeks in a bid to stop fighting between various factions.
“From the accounts I heard, this was the heaviest infighting to take place since Turkish-backed groups captured the region from Kurdish forces,” said a Rudaw source, who wished to remain anonymous, after speaking to three civilians in the town.
Sari Kani has been controlled by Turkish-backed factions since October of last year following Operation Peace Spring, a military offensive launched by Ankara to clear the area of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The town now lies in a ‘buffer zone’ under the control of Turkish-backed militias, stretching from Sari Kani to the town of Gire Spi (Tel Abyad).
Extensive looting and destruction of civilian property has been widely reported since militias took over the area, particularly against minority groups including Kurds and Yezidis.
SOHR on Monday warned of a “demographic change” against the Yezidi minority in rural areas surrounding Sari Kani following looting by Turkish-backed groups.
"Turkish-backed factions, supported and facilitated by the Turkish government, are resettling families of fighters loyal to them in these villages, as they do in other areas under their control," reads the report, which also claimed that members of the Sultan Murad faction destroyed and looted a Yezidi cemetery in the village of Jan Tamer, east of Ras al-Ain.
Edited by Yasmine Mosimann
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