Fighting escalates among Turkish-backed factions in Syria’s Hasakah
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – On Thursday at midnight, fierce clashes erupted between two groups of a Turkish-backed Syrian opposition faction in the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), northeast Syria, that is occupied by Turkish forces and their affiliated factions.
A local source told North Press Agency, “Fierce clashes erupted between two groups of Hamza Division at midnight in Sere Kaniye where different types of machineguns were used.”
The reasons for the clashes are disputes between leaders of the combating groups and a dissident attempt by one of the groups, according to the source.
As a result, casualties and wounded were reported in both groups, and members of the Turkish-backed Military Police, who intervened to diffuse the clashes, also were wounded, as some of them were critically wounded so that they were transferred to Turkey for treatmen.
Media outlets belonging to the opposition said that two Turkish children were wounded by bullets fire by the clashing groups in the city of Ceylanpınar, a district of Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, while they were sleeping on roofs of their houses.
Successive clashes, insecurity and crime prevalence in areas occupied by Turkey and its affiliated factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), sparked resentment among social media pioneers.
Some activists described areas that Turkey names Peace Spring in northeast Syria as “Terror Spring”, and others called Turkey and the SNA factions criminals and thefts.
Residents of Sere Kaniye, who woke up to sounds of clashing that lasted until dawn, said that the “Peace Spring areas completely lack peace and security,” while others, dignitaries and residents of Sere Kaniye called for joining hands against the occupiers and pull them out of the city.
Also, social media outlets called for staging demonstrations in Sere Kaniye on Friday, condemning ongoing security chaos, kidnapping and killing.
On Thursday, Fighting broke out between two groups affiliated with Shohadaa Badr faction, run the western countryside of Sere Kaniye, on fees of smuggling operations to Turkey.
In October 2019, Turkish forces, with the support of the SNA factions, launched the military operation “Peace Spring” against Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad under the pretext of pushing the fighters of the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) away from the Turkish border with Syria.
As a result, they seized many areas in the abovementioned areas and displaced approximately 300,000 civilians, human rights reports said.
The Turkish-occupied areas in north and northeastern Syria continue to witness a state of security chaos and instability amid the SNA factions’ inability to maintain the situation.