Infighting between Turkish-backed militias flares up again in northeast Syria

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Clashes between two Turkish-backed militias in northeast Syria killed a civilian on Tuesday, the Syria-based North Press agency reported on Wednesday. 

The clashes broke out between the Ahrar al-Sharqiya and the Military Police in the village of Mabroukah in the Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain) countryside following a dispute between them over smuggling, a local source in the region told North Press.

The clashes went on for an hour and claimed the life of Thamer Tariha, a civilian from the al-Shaitat clan. 

On Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor also reported the outbreak of clashes between military police and Ahrar al-Sharqiya in Al-Rawiyah village west of Serekaniye. The fighting resulted in the killing of an Ahrar al-Sharqiya militant and the injury of a military police officer. 

The Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sharqiya is under sanctions from the United State Treasury Department “for violations of the rights of civilians and systematic assault on the Syrian Kurds.” 

The militia is part of the umbrella of Turkish-backed militias that calls itself the Syrian National Army (SNA). Turkey and the SNA invaded and occupied Serekaniye, along with Tal Abyad, in the cross-border Peace Spring operation in October 2019.