1st LD: Report says Kurdish forces violate truce, attack Syrian gov't positions in Hasakah

Syria's state news agency said that Kurdish forces violated a recently reached truce in the northeastern city of Hasakah, attacking several government positions early Monday.

The military wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), known as Assayish, violated "the regime of calm agreement" in the city of Hasakah, just 10 hours of concluding the truce, said SANA.

Assayish members attacked several government positions in the city, in addition to targetting the neighborhoods of Nashwa and Ghwairan and a Syrian army checkpoint.

Meanwhile, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group said intense battles renewed in the Naswha and Ghwairan areas amid the advance of the Kurdish forces, which were said to have captured large parts in Hasakah.

The U.S.-led anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition also scrambled warplanes in Hasakah on Monday, after bringing in reinforcement to one of its bases near the city, according to the Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on the ground inside Syria.

Reports said that the Kurds are determined to capture government-controlled areas in Hasakah and shrink the government presence into a security zone and the airport of the city of Qamishli in Hasakah.

A day earlier, a truce was reached between Syrian forces and Kurdish fighters in Hasakah under Russian mediation.

SANA said the "regime of calm" includes a cessation of battles, evacuation of wounded people, return to the previous lines of both parties, and the start of negotiations.

The cease-fire was supposed to start as of 5 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) on Sunday coupled with transporting the wounded to hospitals in the city of Qamishli in Hasakah.

The military positions should return to their previous state, and negotiations are set to start on Monday at the Qamishli airport between representatives of both sides and Iranian and Russian mediators, according to the agreement.

Tension started to rise last week, when both the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Assayish arrested members of each other, a source told Xinhua.

The NDF is a paramilitary group formed in the early years of the five-year crisis that backs government forces. Its initial task was to fill in the positions recaptured by the Syrian army.

Later on the group, which comprises largely of fighters from the Alawite sect of President Bashar al-Assad, started fighting alongside the army.

In recent months, the NDF, which is mostly referred to as pro-government fighters, have become more organized with headquarters present in most Syrian cities and accepting recruits from local communities in each city.

As the situation in Hasakah got more tense, the Kurdish militias demanded the dissolution of the NDF there, a request rejected by the Syrian army.

Later on, the Assayish started shelling NDF positions inside Hasakah, prompting the Syrian army to respond with airstrikes for the first time, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Assayish and the People's Protection Units (YPG), another Kurdish group, unleashed major offensives against NDF positions inside Hasakah, triggering further shelling and airstrikes by government troops.

The source said 80 percent of the residents of Hasakah have fled to areas in the countryside as a result of the latest confrontation.

In previous bouts of tension between Syrian government forces and the Kurds, both parties had managed to contain the situation and avoid further confrontation.

The YPG and other Kurdish militant groups have been assuming positions in Hasakah since 2012.

At the time, there were reports about a tacit agreement between the Kurds and the Syrian government.

Buoyed by the support of the U.S.-led coalition, the YPG and the allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have made sweeping victories against the IS in key areas in northern Syria.

The Russians were said to have also backed the Kurdish fighters in their push against the IS, but no Kurdish group have admitted receiving such support from Russia. Endit