Intense clashes break out between SNA, SDF militias in Aleppo

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
30 Jan 2024 15:16
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SDF fighters fired rockets at the Turkish military base in retaliation to the Turkish artillery shelling of SDF positions in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militants, prepare for battle, in Raqqa, northeast Syria June 22, 2017 (AP)

Al Mayadeen reported intense clashes breaking out between the Turkish-backed "National Army" militants and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces following an attempt by the SDF to infiltrate from the axes of the villages of Jableh and Qimmar, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, coinciding with mutual artillery shelling.

Our correspondent also reported that SDF rocket shells fell in the vicinity of the Kuwait al-Rahma Camp in the countryside of Afrin in northern Aleppo.

He added that the SDF militants fired rockets at the Turkish military base in the vicinity of the village of Anab in the northern countryside of Aleppo in retaliation to the Turkish artillery shelling of SDF positions in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

Turkish-backed SNA clash with US-backed SDF in northern Syria

Clashes between the two insurgent groups in northern Syria have been recurrently erupting. Back in September, violent clashes erupted in the western outskirts of Manbij in the countryside of Aleppo.

SNA militia members were making a concerted effort to advance in the direction of Am Adasa village in western Manbij, which was met with a barrage of heavy artillery and rocket fire from the SDF that were then reciprocated.

The battle in September came on the heels of Russian airstrikes, targeting five positions that the SNA militants had previously occupied in a village in eastern Aleppo. These areas have been under the control of the US-backed SDF, while the Russian military, in coordination with the Syrian government, is actively working to thwart the expansion of the SNA in northern Syria.

The strikes came after days-long clashes between the so-called "National Army" and SDF on the Manbij front.

Syrian tribes launch offensive against the SDF

Back in October last year, tribal fighters in Syria's east launched a large-scale offensive in the Deir Ezzor countryside as part of their effort to take control over the SDF-controlled areas in the region.

Local sources told Al Mayadeen then that the tribal fighters attacked SDF sites on Sunday dawn, managing to take over the majority of the town of Abu Hardoub and also enter the town of Dhebian and take over several neighborhoods in it as they continued to make progress in the locality.

SDF caused at least four civilian deaths by bombing residential buildings in the town of Abu Hardoub, local sources said, noting that they started mobilizing their forces in a bid to reclaim the areas they lost in the region.

Tribal fighters waged discrete attacks on areas controlled by the SDF after the latter initiated a battle called "Enhancing Security and Safety" in Deir Ezzor. During this battle, they arrested all the members of the Deir Ezzor Military Council affiliated with the SDF, accusing them of corruption and collusion with hostile forces.

Tribal members took control of the entire eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor at the beginning of September before the SDF regained control after mobilizing a large number of forces in the area.

Tribal fighters accuse the Kurdish leaders of the SDF of monopolizing military and administrative rule in the region, as well as preventing the residents of the region from managing their own areas while looting and plundering its resources.

The SDF took control of the entire countryside of Deir Ezzor, located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, after capturing the town of Baghuz, the last stronghold of ISIS in Syria, in February 2019. They established a "civil and military administration" to administrate the region amidst accusations that it is merely a symbolic administration and that it is the Kurdish elements within the SDF who actually run the region.

The chief of the Akidat tribe in Syria, Ibrahim al-Hifl, announced in September the start of a "new battle" by Arab tribes against the SDF forces, calling for a general mobilization in the countryside of Deir Ezzor to support the engaged tribal forces.

SNA attempts to lure Arab tribes

The "Syrian National Army" is said to have made arrangements for individuals from local tribes willing to join the fight against the SDF in Manbij and al-Bab. This move was reportedly realized through a joint attack by the SNA and armed groups claiming to be tribal members, targeting several villages on two fronts.

Turkish-affiliated SNA posted videos claiming they had "taken control of the villages of Arab Hasan and Al-Mushannaleh" in the countryside of Manbij and al-Bab, while the spokesperson for the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council, Sharfan Darwish, quickly denied "any news of mercenaries gaining control over any point or checkpoint in the villages and towns of the countryside of Manbij and al-Bab."