Click to see full-size image. Source: the Hawar News Agency.
On April 14 afternoon, the security body of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), known as Asayish, withdrew from a number of government buildings in the northeastern town of al-Qamishli that it had occupied in the morning.
Asayish personnel occupied the buildings in a bid to pressure Damascus into ending a siege imposed by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) on the SDF-held district of Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo city. The siege began a few weeks earlier in response to an alleged attack by militants hiding in the district.
التنين او..ساخ
القامشلي سوريا:مليشيات الآساييش تبدأ بالانسحاب من الدوائر والمؤسسات الحكومية التابعة للنظام السوري التي سيطرت عليها صباح اليوم في القامشلي
pic.twitter.com/3yvC8Tpnf9— الأمير فاصوليان (@M86950933) April 14, 2022
In a statement, Asayish denied that its personnel occupied government buildings in al-Qamishli. The security force claimed that it just “tightened” its security measures around the government-held “security zone”.
“We will continue these security measures around the security zone in al-Qamishli until the siege on our people in Sheikh Maqsoud district is lifted,” the statement reads.
The Asayish withdrawal is meant to de-escalate tensions with the Damascus government. Russia efforts were likely behind the withdrawal.
The crisis between the SDF and Damascus will likely end soon. The SDF needs the protection of Russian forces and the SAA to stop Turkish forces from invading its areas in northern and northeastern Syria.
While neither the SDF or Damascus are interested in a military confrontation, the two sides remain far from a political agreement. The SDF continue to be the main proxy of the US in Syria.
