Two Syrian soldiers were killed and one was wounded Wednesday near the oft-contested Tishrin Dam in the northern Aleppo Governorate. What actually happened is a matter of contention, however, is the military accused the Kurdish SDF of attacking the soldiers with a missile.
The SDF tells a very different story of the incident, claiming that they were totally uninvolved, alleging that the Syrian soldiers actually blundered into a landmine that was planted by the Syrian forces near their own base and that’s what caused the explosion and the casualties.
There has been fighting in and around the Tishrin Dam area for months, initially Turkish-backed militants attacking the SDF positions nearby and now government forces and the SDF contesting the area, even when the two are meant to be merging at some point.
The area around Tishreen Dam | Image is from Wikimedia
Tishrin Dam is the first dam on the Euphrates River in northern Syria. In times of full operating it provides electricity and fresh water to a substantial amount of Kurdish-heavy territory in northwestern Syria.
The March deal between the government and Kurdish leaders is meant to see the SDF integrated into the military, and the SDF had only yesterday submitted a list of commanders meant to be integrated into leadership positions in the Syrian military.
Kurdish officials are hoping this integration will increase national unity, though many are skeptical, after the government excluded the Kurds from the cabinet and didn’t hold parliamentary elections in Kurdish parts of Syria, both of which are leading to calls from many to retain some level of autonomy within the region.
