Hassakeh: Kurds control '90 percent' following clashes with regime

Kurdish forces have seized control of 90 percent of Hassakeh city following clashes with Syrian regime forces this week, a monitor has said Monday.

MENA

3 min read

The New Arab

23 August, 2016

Kurdish forces have fought intense battles against the regime in recent days [Getty]

Kurdish fighters on Monday captured the central prison in Hassakeh after fierce clashes with Syrian regime forces and are in control of 90 percent of the northern city, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting escalated after heavy overnight clashes that saw the Kurds make advances mostly in the south of the area.

The northeastern city has been rocked by deadly clashes between Kurdish forces and fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since Wednesday in the most violent confrontation between the two sides in more than five years of civil war.

After hours of calm late Sunday, clashes broke out after midnight in the southern district of Ghweiran and around the buildings of Al-Masaken, which the Kurds later captured, said the monitor.

They also routed regime forces from the eastern part of Ghweiran, the largest neighbourhood in Hassakeh, and overran the An-Nashwa area in the south of the city.

The Kurdish forces also seized control of the central prison located in Ghweiran, said the Observatory.

"The Kurds now control 90 percent of the city," said the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

A Kurdish official in the city had earlier said that Kurdish police known as the Asayesh were in control of 85 percent of Hassakeh.

"The areas that have been captured will not be returned to the regime. They will remain under Asayesh control," Meskin Ahmed said in an online conference call with reporters.

In a bid to calm tensions, a delegation of Russian officials from the coastal Hmeimim military airport arrived in the nearby city of Qamishli on Saturday for talks with both sides.


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On Sunday, Syria's military said a truce deal had been reached with the Kurds, however, the YGP denied this.

The YPG on Sunday handed out leaflets and made loudspeaker calls across the city ordering regime forces to hand over their weapons or face death.

Syrian troops and seasoned Kurdish fighters have coordinated on security matters in Hassakeh province before, where the threat of nearby Islamic State group militants hangs high.

Tensions built up between the sometimes-rival authorities over the issue of conscription in the city.

Syrian regime warplanes bombed Kurdish positions in Hassakeh after fighting between the two sides broke out last week.

Kurdish militias are key US allies in the fight against IS, and Washington has provided them with weapons and advisers on the battlefield.

The US has also reportedly opened up an air base in Kurdish-controlled Syrian territory, while Russia - which is helping prop up the regime - is close to both sides in the local conflict.