PYD View On Tel Temir / FULL REPORT

    Til Temir (Tall Tamr) – the reasons behind the latest fighting and the newly adopted tactics of the FSA.

    Since April 25th clashes between YPG and armed groups have taken place in the city of Til Temir. Til Temir is a small city with a population of 7000. With no oil fields and approximately 40 kilometers off the Turkish border, it has led many to wonder why the city has elicited such an intense armed presence.

The residents of the area are mainly Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians. However viewing the city on a map, its strategic significance is very quickly established. Til Temir is a gateway leading into the heart of the predominately Kurdish north. Lying between the cities of Serê Kanîyê (Ras Al Ayn) and Hesica (Al Hasakah) it is the focal point of all roads traversing western Kurdistan (northern Syrian).

    On April 25th an armed group led by former Baathist Hasan To’ama entered Til Temir, unleashing assaults on the Kurdish population in an attempt to drive them out of the city. As YPG intervened, the armed group responded by firing indiscriminately at its members as well as civilians. The attack resulted in the killing of one YPG member and a 9-year-old child. YPG soon deployed a larger force in the area and soon encircled the city.

    Since YPGs intervention the FSA has reportedly armed and trained Arab clans in the surrounding areas of Til Temir. Using the pretext that Kurds are seeking to take control of the area and divide Syria these clans have established barriers on roads leading in to Til Temir, effectively cutting off supplies and crucial aid to its inhabitants. The armed groups have repeatedly attacked the city, including a strategic YPG checkpoint on the road to Heleb (Aleppo). They have also on a number of occasions kidnapped civilians. Ossama Al-Hilal, one of the leaders of the FSA affiliated groups which previously led attacks on Serê Kanîyê (Ras Al Ayn), is now operating in Til Temir.

    On May 1th YPG reinforcements arrived in Til Temir. On May 2th YPG staged a large attack on one of the armed barriers. According to YPG estimates some 20 members of the armed group were killed as the barrier was seized. One YPG member was injured in the attack. YPG members later took control of several surrounding villages, including Ain Al-Abd, Dardara and Mujebra. Clashes are still occurring in Til Temir and are likely to continue. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=620312451329758&set=a.562673563760314.140816.547003131994024&type=1

Another pro-PYD view on Tel Temir can be found here.

Welati reports there have been efforts by Arab tribes to end the conflict.

    Tall Tamr: Fighting between YPG and Scharabiyin KURDWATCH, May 2, 2013—On April 25, 2013, shots were exchanged between the Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) People’s Defense Units (YPG) and armed members of the Arab Sharabiyin tribe at a YPG checkpoint in Tall Tamr (thirty-seven kilometers southeast of Raʾs al‑ʿAyn). At least one YPG fighter and eight Scharabiyin, including one woman, are thought to have been killed. http://kurdwatch.org/?aid=2822&z=en&cure=1009

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