58 deaths in week of fighting in SNA-held Syria’s north – SOHR
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced 58 individuals, mostly militants, were killed in a week-long fighting between Turkish-backed armed Syrian opposition factions and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in north of Aleppo.
Areas in Afrin and al-Bab in Aleppo northern countryside have witnessed fighting among Turkish-backed factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), for nearly two weeks.
SOHR said ten civilians, including four women and three children, lost their lives in the fighting that was brought to a halt late on Monday after intervention by Turkey to put into effect an agreement between SNA factions and HTS via a neutral third party; Hayat Thaeroon for Liberation.
28 HTS militants were killed in Afrin and its sub-districts, SOHR said.
16 other militants of the Third Legion (a faction affiliated with SNA) were killed in Afrin and east and north countryside of Aleppo. Two militants of the Military Police in al-Bab, a militant from Jaysh al-Sharqia in Afrin’s Jindires and another from Ahrar al-Sham in al-Bab were killed.
The area witnesses a state of cautious calm after takeover by HTS of Kafr Janneh on Monday’s night, according to SOHR.
Hayat Thaeroon for Liberation was deployed as a disengagement force to Kafr Janneh outskirts under Turkish orders while Turkish reinforcements arrived at the area on Tuesday morning, exclusive sources told North Press.
Hayat Thaeroon for Liberation includes “Sultan Murad Shah Division, al-Muntasir, Al-Rahman Legion, Levant Legion, Mu’tasim Division, al-Waqas Brigade, Samarkand Brigade, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement and Ninth Corps,” all are Turkish-affiliated factions.
On Tuesday, the US Embassy in Damascus said its country is “deeply concerned” over developments in Syria’s northwest and called for immediate withdrawal of HTS from Afrin.
On Oct. 13, the HTS gained control over Afrin north of Aleppo, following fierce clashes with Third Legion.
Afrin, a Kurdish city in the north of Aleppo, has been under the occupation of Turkey since March 2018 following a military operation called “Olive Branch” which resulted in the displacement of about 300.000 people of the original inhabitants of the city and its countryside.
The areas held by the SNA factions have been witnessing unrest due to clashes with Hamza Division on the back of killing an activist and his pregnant wife at the hand of the division’s militants.