MESOP : Syrian regime to declare Hasakah a ‘safe zone’

October 27, 2014 – ARA News – Hasakah, Syria ــ The Syrian regime security forces in the city of al-Hasakah northeastern Syria removed a number of its checkpoints that had been installed recently in the streets of the city, locals reported.Relative calmness prevailed in the city of Hasakah after the end of clashes between pro-regime forces and tribal gunmen in Geweran neighborhood south of the city, following an agreement signed between the neighborhood’s militants and the regime military forces in mid-September.

Speaking to ARA News in Hasakah, activist Mohammed Ismail said that the pro-regime forces removed on Sunday several security checkpoints from Nashwa neighborhood as well as other neighborhoods in the city.“The pro-regime forces also removed their checkpoints from al-Nahda Street in the central market near Geweran neighborhood, as well as opening the square of President Hafez al-Assad, while military forces remained in their positions in the area,” Ismail said. Several military barriers are kept in locations near governmental buildings for emergency situations in the city, according to security sources in Hasakah. The military governor of Hasakah, Colonel Mohammed Kaddour, said that he will soon announce the city as a safe zone, sources close to the Syrian regime’s security forces told ARA News. Over the last few months, the city of Hasakah and its surroundings saw fierce clashes between the Kurdish forces of the YPG and militants of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) in the southern districts of the city. In some occasions, the pro-regime forces got engaged in the clashes against IS militants as well as pro-IS gunmen in Geweran neighborhood in southern Hasakah.