Firefight between Syrian government forces and armed group near Qamishli

Qamishli – North-Press Agency

Abdulhalim Suleiman

After midnight last night, clashes broke out between unknown gunmen and members of Syrian government forces near the city of Qamishli, in northeastern Syria.

A source from the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) told North-Press that members of Syrian government forces at Awijah checkpoint, southeast of Qamishli, opened fire on a group of four people who had apparently tried to steal motorcycles in the nearby village of Khirbet Ammo.

The source added that the group responded to the fire, which led to a clash between them, indicating that Syrian government forces managed to arrest one of them while the other three managed to escape.

On February 11th, the village of Khirbet Ammo, southeast of Qamishli, witnessed the shooting of four U.S. military vehicles that were belonging to the patrol coming from Qamishli road towards the M4 highway, while a number of supporters of the Syrian government gathered near a checkpoint in the village where its members prevented the patrol from passing.

The accident resulted in the death of one person and the injury of another villager while trying to lower the U.S. flag from the vehicles, according to local sources from the village.

Colonel Myles Caggins, the official spokesman for the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) said at the time that the U.S. patrol was subjected to small arms fire from unknown persons, and Coalition forces returned fire in self-defense.