MESOP ALARM ! Assad Fights & Bombs Kurdish Forces in Hasakah

19 Aug 2016 – MESOP – Regime and Kurdish forces have renewed their battles in the eastern Syrian city of Hasakah, with the Syrian Air Force bombing Kurdish positions for the first time.The latest clashes began on Wednesday, with each side blaming the other for attacks on checkpoints in the city, where there has been divided control since 2013. A ceasefire on Wednesday night quickly collapsed, with more Kurdish claims that the Syrian army and militia were firing on the Kurdish security force Asayish.On Thursday, the Syrian air force began its bombing, according to Kurdish officials. YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said, “There are martyrs and wounded.”

The Kurdish militia YPG said it would “not be silent” over what it called it an act of aggression: “Every hand spattered with the blood of our people will be held to account through all possible and available means.”

Local sources said US jet fighters tried, for the first time in the conflict, to check the Syrian air force; however, the bombing resumed as soon as the American jets left the area.Government forces were also bombarding Kurdish districts of Hasakah with artillery, according to Kurdish officials. There have been periodic clashes between regime and Kurdish forces in Hasakah and in the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, where there is also divided control, followed by ceasefires to maintain the positions of each side. Claimed aftermath of a regime airstrike: www.mesop.de