After several quiet months on the Turkish-Syrian border, tensions have escalated in recent days. Turkish forces have intensified their attacks against the SDF in northeastern Syria and targeted PKK hideouts along the Turkish-Iraqi border. This escalation is unfolding against the backdrop of the suicide blast in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, on Oct. 1 that targeted the Interior Ministry.
The conflict between the Wagner Group and the Russian government was not born out of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though the war there caused the rift to widen and tensions to explode publicly in the form of an armed rebellion. Instead, the discord actually started in Syria back in 2017 and has intensified since then.
After a bloody war that saw hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced over a decade, Syria has been effectively divided into spheres of influence and de facto protectorates controlled by regional and international powers. Foremost among these
April 30, 2021
Clashes broke out April 20 in neighborhoods of Qamishli, between the Asayish internal security forces affiliated with the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the National Defense Forces, which includes fighters loyal to the Syrian government and is receiving support from Iranian militias. The fighting began after Khaled al-Hajji, an Asayish security official, was killed in an attack by members of the National Defense Forces at a military checkpoint near al-Wahda roundabout, close to the Tayy neighborhood, in southern Qamishli. The Asayish responded and targeted several National Defense Forces checkpoints in the same neighborhood, and managed to kill three members and arrest others.