Health Authority in the Kurdish administration of Hasakah has reported that 48 people have been killed and 138 wounded during the clashes in the city.
Now, the YPG is in control of about 70% of Hasakah. At yesterday’s meeting with representatives of the Syrian government forces, the YPG demanded full military control of Hasakah and the pullout of the pro-government forces from the city. The group will likely continue operations till the goal is achieved.
Local sources report that the Russians have been attempting to set up a new meeting on a ceasefire agreement in the city.
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Oh no, the Syrian Army is folding like a cheap table. The Russians are unable to drop bombs, because they cannot locate the Hospital in Hasakah.
“…Now, the YPG is in control of about 70% of Hasakah…”
The YPG is a secondary force, here. Kurds are a minority (or at most, half) of Hasakah. The main fight is between the PYD’s Asayish internal police and U.S. Special Forces ‘handlers’ on the PYD side and the SAA-aligned NDF militia on the other. There are no real SAA forces in the city to speak of. Their artillery base is a few miles to the northeast and they supported the Hasakah NDF by shelling Asayish positions, but didn’t send tanks/troops into the city to defend it.
The PYD is a Kurdish political party – it does not represent Arabs or Christians (although it claims to). The U.S. Special Forces were trying to cobble together a military alliance there – the SDF – between the YPG/YPJ and the local Arabs. This has worked successfully elsewhere to as a self-protection force. Most Arabs are suspicious of the Kurds and prefer to remain in their own militas, but will ally with the YPG/YPJ for specific purposes like Manbij.
Everything was fine in Hasakah for months. Then the PYD and Asayish started commanding the Hasakah SDF like their own personal Kurdish army. The local Arabs and Christians didn’t like it and started quitting the Hasakah SDF to join the SAA-aligned Hasakah NDF in order to protect their homes. The PYD got pissed because nobody defies them – they are the ruler of everyone inside the borders they drew for Rojava. They decided (despite the majority Arab/Christian population) that the NDF will no longer be allowed and everyone MUST join the YPG/YPJ or the SDF and take orders from THEM.
This all started when the Asayish didn’t like the fact that the NDF had arrested some criminals that were related to someone in the Asayish and demanded they be released. The NDF said ‘No’, so the Asayish kidnapped relatives of people in the NDF and held them for hostage. Eventually, the prisoners were exchanged, but the Asayish thugs were not satisfied. They want everyone to belong to the SDF – a milita they can control. And they want the NDF outlawed in Hasakah so nobody will disobey them. The Asayish attacked the NDF to drive them out and do a little Arab/Christian ethnic cleansing. You can stay if you obey the Kurdish PYD, otherwise they’ll take your house and kick you out.
There are SOME members of the YPG/YPJ that are not from Hasakah (probably U.S.-hired mercs) that are assisting the Asayish in their purge. Whatever local YPG/YPJ are there have fled the city. They have never had a problem with the NDF / Arabs / Christians and are not about to fight them now. It’s disingenuous to claim the YPG/YPJ as a whole is backing the Asayish thugs here, in fact it’s a lie. It’s also a lie to claim the NDF is trying to take over Hasakah or promote the regime there. They are interested in self-protection of Hasakah, but don’t want to be pawns of the corrupt PYD party or knuckle-under to their Asayish Stazi enforcers.
I wonder if any of this was related to the Asayish forcing Arabs to join the SDF to take back Raqqa. An Arab tribe from Hasakah has no reason to go and die to take back Raqqa. That’s a U.S./Kurdish goal, not an Arab (or Christian) one that’s never been to Raqqa. The Asayish (under orders from their CIA/PYD masters) have been forcing Arabs from Qamishli at gunpoint into the SDF to fight for U.S./Kurdish land-grabbing whether you’re a Kurd or not. When people start quitting the SDF, the Asayish go insane. This is what happened in Hasakah.