Syria regime, Kurds agree to truce in Hasakeh

HASAKEH, Syria (UPDATED) – Regime forces and Kurdish fighters agreed on Tuesday, August 23, to a truce in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh after a week of clashes, a Kurdish official and Syrian state media said.

 

A statement distributed to journalists by a Kurdish official said the agreement included “a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all armed forces from the city.”

 

It said the Kurds and regime would also exchange any detainees or wounded, and reopen roads blocked off during fighting.

 

The official told the Agence France-Presse that the powerful Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian forces would withdraw from Hasakeh, while the police forces of both the Kurds and the government would remain.

 

He added that the deal was brokered “under the auspices of Russian military officials.”

 

Syrian state television confirmed the truce was reached on Tuesday afternoon.

 

A local journalist working with the Agence France-Presse said the city was quiet on Tuesday afternoon, with several stores reopening in the city centre.

 

On Monday, Kurdish, regime, and Russian officials met in the coastal Hmeimim air base to hash out an agreement to put an end to the outbreak of violence in Hasakeh.

 

Steadfast regime ally Russia has also strengthened its relationship with Syria’s Kurds, and a Kurdish representative office recently opened in Moscow.

 

Clashes erupted on Wednesday between the Kurdish police force known as the Asayesh and the pro-government National Defence Forces militia (NDF).

 

Fighting escalated Thursday when regime warplanes bombarded Kurdish-held positions in the city for the first time.

 

That prompted Washington to warn against strikes that might endanger its military advisers with the Kurds on the ground.

 

Hasakeh, capital of the northeastern province of the same name, was already mostly controlled by Kurdish forces although the majority of its residents are Arabs.

 

Kurdish fighters now control 90% of the city after seizing the central prison, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.

 

Syria’s Kurds have run autonomous institutions across swathes of the country’s north – with independent schools and police forces – since government forces withdrew from the area in 2012. – Rappler.com