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Syria
A vehicle and flag of the Kurdish security forces (Asayish) are seen in the al-Tai neighbourhood of Qamishli on April 24, 2021. Photo: handout/Asayish
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The main opposition in northeast Syria (Rojava) urged Kurdish security forces (Asayish) and regime-affiliated militia groups in Qamishli city to end days of conflict in the urban centre. Talks are currently underway to resolve the tensions.
The Kurdish National Council (ENKS) in a statement late Friday said that days of clashes between the Asayish and pro-regime National Defense Forces (NDF) in Qamishli’s al-Tai neighborhood have put the civilian population at risk.
“Thousands of families were displaced from the neighborhood to safer places, and many civilians in the neighborhood and neighboring neighborhoods fell as martyrs and were injured by indiscriminate bombardments,” said ENKS.
It called on all parties to “show a spirit of responsibility” and immediately cease hostilities.
Clashes broke out on Tuesday night. Late on Friday, the Asayish announced they had reached a 15-hour ceasefire with the NDF after the intervention of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Russians.
Al-Tai neighbourhood was mainly calm on Saturday morning, though there was one violation of the ceasefire when NDF fighters briefly opened fire on the Asayish, according to a Rudaw reporter on the ground, Viviyan Fetah.
Both sides are currently in a meeting at Qamishli’s airport, in the presence of Russians, to discuss the details of the ceasefire.
Al-Tai neighbourhood is one of several pockets of control that the regime has maintained in the Kurdish-administered northeast (Rojava). The Asayish on Saturday released photos of their forces inside the neighborhood and claimed to have found weapons and ammunition left behind by the NDF.
Kurdish forces have largely avoided confrontation with the regime over the decade of conflict in Syria. Clashes have occasionally broken out between them, however, including between the Asayish and NDF in February in Qamishli and Hasaka.
ENKS and Rojava’s ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) have had thorny relations for years but they are involved in stalled talks to create Kurdish unity in Rojava.
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