BEIRUT, April 23 – A ceasefire has been declared in northeastern Syria by the Regional Kurdish security forces and the pro-Syrian government according to Kurdish sides, and thus in in result bringing to an end a three-day outbreak of violence that lead to the death of more than 26 people.
One witness said the truce was to take place on Saturday; however the Kurdish Asayish forces said in a statement that the accord took effect at 3:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Friday. Further both the witness and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group tracking the five-year-old war in Syria, said it seemed that Asayish forces had not withdrawn since the start of the truce from any recently-gained territory.
Asayish forces seized control of a number of government-controlled positions during the fighting in the city of Qamishli, in Hasaka province, as well as its main prison. A Syrian Kurdish official has said this was the second biggest outbreak of fighting between al-Assad’s government and regional Kurdish forces since Syria’s civil war began in 2011.
The Kurdish security forces mostly are the one who control Qamishli, near the Turkish border, though pro-Assad forces still hold a few areas in the city centre, and its airport. However, now Syrian Kurdish forces dominate vast areas of northern Syria and set up their own government there.
It could be said that Syria has turned into a patchwork of areas controlled by the government, an array of rebel groups, ISIS militants, and Kurdish forces.
Mediators have struggled to get Syria’s combatants to honour a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks to proceed. On Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Syria vowed to take the talks into next week despite a walkout by the main armed opposition with both sides gearing up to escalate the war.
Asharq Al-Awsat English
Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously each day on four continents in 14 cities. Launched in London in 1978, Asharq Al-Awsat has established itself as the decisive publication on pan-Arab and international affairs, offering its readers in-depth analysis and exclusive editorials, as well as the most comprehensive coverage of the entire Arab world.
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