Clashes broke out between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s Asayish forces and Syrian government backed National Defence Forces (NDF) in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli on Tuesday night.
“The mercenaries of the National Defense Militia continue their actions aimed at destroying the state of stability and security in the city of Qamishli,” reads a statement from Asayish forces released on Tuesday night. “Where one of the mercenaries of the National Defense Militia shot at the checkpoint of our forces at Al-Wahda roundabout in Qamishli on the evening of Tuesday, April 20, which led to the death of a member of our forces succumbing to his wounds.”
According to Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) linked media Hawar News Agency (ANHA), the clashes halted briefly around 2 am, however, only to start again stronger an hour later.
ANHA also reported that the NDF had used heavy weaponry such as RPGs.
This is not the first time clashes break out between Asayish forces and the NDF.
Clashes took place between the two in February in Qamishli and Hasaka. One person was killed and at least three others were injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the deceased was a policeman with the pro-government forces.
Asayish at the time accused the NDF of sowing discord among the different components of the region, a stance that they have maintained today.
“We in the Internal Security Forces will not hesitate for one moment to defend ourselves and eliminate all attempts by the militia to target our security points, sowing discord and creating instability for the people in the area, to which we ensure that we will deal firmly with,” Asayish said on Tuesday.
According to Rudaw reporter Viviyan Fetah, clashes were ongoing at the time of this article’s publication.
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