BEIRUT: Syria’s state news agency is reporting intense clashes between government forces and Turkish troops in the country’s north.
SANA said Saturday’s clashes included heavy machine gun fire and occurred in the village of Um Shaifa near the town of Ras Al-Ayn. Turkey invaded Syria’s northeast last month to push out Syrian Kurdish fighters near the border. The Kurdish groups called in Syrian government forces to halt Turkey’s advance. Syrian government forces have clashed since with Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition fighters. Moscow has brokered a shaky truce in northern Syria, but sporadic clashes have continued.
Last week, Turkish forces captured 18 Syrian government soldiers in the area and set them free hours later following mediation by Russia.
Agencies add: Intense battles flared when the Turkish forces and Turkey-backed rebels launched an offensive against the Kurdish and Syrian forces in northern Syria, state news agency SANA reported. The battles involving heavy and medium weapons are fought in the village of Um Shuaifeh in the countryside of Hasakah Province near the Turkish border, SANA said.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense battles are taking place on several fronts between the town of Tal Tamr and Abu Rasayn area in Hasakah countryside between the Turkey-backed rebels and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as part of the wide-scale offensive launched by the Turkish forces in Hasakah countryside. –Agencies
