Turkish-backed SNA factions launch ground attack on Syria’s Hasakah
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), launched on Sunday morning a ground attack on villages in the western countryside of the town of Tel Tamr in the north of Hasakah, northeast Syria.
A military source told North Press, “The fighters of the Tel Tamr Military Council, affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), deterred an attack launched by the SNA factions on the villages of Tawila, Tel Tawil and al-Khamsin in the western countryside of Tel Tamr.”
Tel Tamr, which has a population of about 25,000 and is 30 km away from the Syrian-Turkish border, is of strategic importance as it is a junction on the M4 Highway linking Hasakah to Aleppo governorate in the northwest.
The town has been under constant attacks by Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka Syrian National Army (SNA), for more than two years.
Parts of the northern and western countryside of the town and the entire southern countryside are protected by the Syriac Military Council and the Assyrian Khabour Guards Forces, while the SNA controls the northern countryside up to the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) on the northern border of Syria.
The clashes erupted between the Council’s forces and SNA factions and are still ongoing without reporting human or material losses so far, he added.
The attack came following the clashes that erupted between the SDF and gunmen affiliated with the Syrian government in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria, and attacks by the SNA on the northwestern countryside of Manbij, northern Syria, in the past two days.
On Aug. 27, the SDF launched a military operation called “Security Reinforcement” with the support of the US-led Global Coalition on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, specifically in Deir ez-Zor, “to eradicate Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells, pursue criminals responsible for perpetrating injustices against the local population, and to track down smugglers who exploit the populace’s livelihoods.”
On Aug. 30, the SDF announced the dismissal of commander of Deir ez-Zor Military Council, Ahmad al-Khabil, known as Abu Khawla, from duty, for his involvement “in multiple crimes and violations, including communication and coordination with external entities hostile to the revolution, committing criminal offenses and engaging in drug trafficking, mismanaging of the security situation, his negative role in increasing the activities of ISIS cells,” according to the SDF.
The operation led to the eruption of clashes between the SDF and gunmen affiliated with the dismissed leader and with al-Bashir whose groups are active in the western bank of the Euphrates which is under the control of the Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militias.