Heavy fighting erupts near Tal Tamir in northern Syria

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Heavy fighting has continued between Turkey-backed groups and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the town of Tal Tamir in Hasakah province since Wednesday.

The SDF-linked Tal Tamir Military Council said on Friday that Syrian rebel groups backed by Turkey had tried to “tried to launch attacks on the villages of Tel al-Laban and Kozliya in Tal Tamir district, and our fighters responded to these attacks.”

During the clashes, four rebels were injured. The groups also shelled the area with heavy artillery, the council said.

Also on Thursday, Turkish-backed groups tried to launch attacks on the countryside of Tal Tamir, in which five of their fighters were injured.

The local Syrian Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported that calm returned to the frontlines near Tal Tamir on Friday.

However, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the SDF was on alert for a possible new attack by the rebel fighters.

Recently, there has been an increase in attacks by Turkey-backed groups near Ain Issa in Raqqa province, during which dozens of rebels were killed, according to the SDF.

Read More: Syria: Heavy fighting between SDF and Turkey-backed groups continues around Ain Issa

On Oct. 19, 2019, after a long-threatened Turkish military incursion into northeast Syria to confront Kurdish elements of the SDF, the US mediated a ceasefire between Turkey and the SDF. A second deal brokered by Russia followed on Oct. 22.

Yet despite the agreements and Turkey occupying the border areas of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain (Serekaniye), affiliated Syrian armed groups and the Turkish army itself continue to target SDF-held areas.

Senior Syrian Kurdish officials have regularly called on Russia and the US to pressure Turkey to abide by the ceasefire agreements.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly