SNA says Kurdish militiamen kill 5 Syrian fighters affiliated with Turkey
(MENAFN) Kurdish militiamen killed five Arab Syrian fighters affiliated with Turkey in north-western Aleppo governorate, the Syrian National army (SNA) reported on Sunday. The attack occurred as Kurdish forces carried out incursions into a zone that Turkey established six years ago to limit the territorial expansion of Kurdish groups. The SNA, formed by Turkey in 2017 to support its military operations in Syria, stated that the fighters died while repelling an attempted infiltration by Kurdish forces.
The Turkish-controlled zone in northern Syria was created through several military invasions, with tacit approval from both Washington and Moscow, to prevent Kurdish separatists from forming a contiguous territory along the Turkish border. Tensions in this region have flared in recent weeks, with renewed retaliatory attacks. Last month, a similar confrontation led to the death of another pro-Turkish fighter in the area.
Aleppo has become a particularly complicated battleground, involving multiple foreign powers like the US, Russia, Turkey, and Iran, each controlling different zones of influence. In the Tal Rifat area north of Aleppo, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated militia, hold territory with the support of Russia. The area is opposite Afrin, which is under Turkish control. The SDF maintains access to its territory in northeast Syria through lines controlled by the Syrian regime, despite Damascus labeling the SDF as a proxy for the US and opposing its presence.
Following the Kurdish incursion on Saturday, the SNA responded with rocket attacks on the Tal Rifat front the next day, though no casualties were reported. Sources close to the SNA suggested that the Kurdish forces were not trying to take control of the area but were sending a message to Turkey and its allies, signaling that stability in Afrin would not come easily. The rise in violence comes amid a Russian-led initiative aimed at reconciling Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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