After a week of heavily fighting between the Syrian military and Kurdish SDF in Deir Hafer and the city of Aleppo, a US-brokered ceasefire was reached. Two days later, fighting has erupted yet again, once again in Deir Hafer and areas east of there.
The Syrian military attacked SDF positions in Deir Hafer directly, and army-backed groups attacks the Kurdish village of Umm al-Marra, immediately south of Deir Hafer, as well as the strategically important Tishreen Dam.
The army cited needs to move against Kurdish “terrorists” as well as remnants of the old regime, and declared multiple areas east of the city of Aleppo, including Deir Hafer, as “closed military zones,” suggesting a large-scale operation like was seen in the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo last week.
The Syrian Army issued a statement demanding that the SDF withdraw from all areas east of Aleppo up to the Euphrates River. The entire area between Deir Hafer and the river are effectively under control of the SDF right now, and have been for years.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) central government envisions eventually integrating the Kurdish territory under central government control, and absorbing the SDF into the military. That they keep getting into fights with the SDF suggests the deal is still a ways off.
Further to the east, Kurdish protesters were out in force in Qmshili, condemning the crackdown on Kurds in Aleppo Governorate. The SDF was also accused of blowing up a bridge in Am Teenah, north of Deir Hafer.
The Syrian Army appears to believe the victory within Aleppo, such as it was, is momentum for them to march further east and take more Kurdish territory by force. Whether or not that is successful remains to be seen, but it probably further puts integration agreements and negotiations with the Kurds on hold.
