The Kurdish-led SDF clashed with the Turkish-led Syrian National Army (SNA) in northern Syria [Getty]
Fierce fighting erupted between the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the Tishrin Dam in northern Syria’s Manbij countryside on Thursday.
The clashes, which started on Wednesday night, intensified as the SNA and SDF vie for control of strategic territories in Syria’s Aleppo province.
The Tishrin Dam area, located to the east of Aleppo, has long been a flashpoint in the Syrian conflict due to its strategic and symbolic importance.
While neither party has fully seized control of the dam, both sides are desperately trying to gain a strategic advantage. According to Amin Huwaish, a spokesman for the SNA’s Fajr al-Hurriya (Dawn of Freedom) operations room, the fighting continued for several hours, resulting in casualties on both sides.
Huwaish added that the SDF had previously used tunnels around the dam for infiltration operations, with SDF forces briefly capturing villages in the western Manbij countryside. However, these villages were later retaken by the SNA after launching a counteroffensive.
The escalation around Tishrin Dam follows a recent surge in violence in northern Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, where Turkish-backed factions of the SNA have intensified their operations against the SDF.
The SNA launched its ‘Fajr al-Hurriya’ operation on 30 November, three days after HTS-led rebels launched a major assault against former President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
The SNA managed to capture of several SDF-controlled towns in Aleppo’s countryside, including the strategic city of Manbij.
On 16 December, the SDF announced the collapse of US-mediated peace talks aimed at establishing a permanent ceasefire in Manbij and around the northern city of Kobane.
Though a temporary ceasefire had been brokered by the US and Turkey, it failed to hold, and clashes resumed with more intensity.
On 26 December, two people were killed and four others injured in a bomb explosion on al-Tajnid Street in central Manbij. The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, reported that the blast was likely the result of a vehicle bomb, which local sources linked to the SDF.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Ministry of Defense announced on December 27 that its forces had killed 20 militants, reportedly members of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which are the main component fo the SDF who were allegedly preparing to attack Turkish-controlled zones in northern Syria.
