Northeast Syria is still a fighting zone with ongoing escalation between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). The area, historically divided by competing interests and agendas, has witnessed a sudden surge in violence, with new players emerging to further scramble an already unstable environment.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights mentioned that eight members of the SNA and eight of the SDF were killed and injured respectively in heavy battles for the vicinity of the Tishreen Dam, which is an important strategic point in the area. The Observatory reports that the current, ongoing conflict started in December and has killed at least 440 individuals, which highlights the deadly toll of the escalating violence.
The Tishreen Dam on the river Euphrates has both a strategic and symbolic relevance, as an important energy and water provider of the local area. Control of this region has been a major object of desire for the warring groups, as both the SDF and SNA aspired for power.
Not only did hostilities erupt around the dam but also in the Deir az-Zour countryside. As reported by Syria TV, an arm of The New Arab, three SDF soldiers were killed in clashes with tribal fighters, according to the reports. It has been made worse by the infighting between SDF and the proxy groups of Syria’s new transitional government that has become another significant actor in the conflict.
As the SANA news agency reported earlier, the current transitional government controlled by HTS has provided military support to fight near the Tishreen Dam. Open sources indicate that the HTS-aligned forces are ready to join the current fighting between the SDF and SNA in the further already densely populated battle space.
Forces are also warning that the arrival of HTS could change the balance in the war in favor of the insurgents. While HTS has been largely at work in northwest Syria, its foray into the northeast is viewed as a bid to build further its presence and establish itself as a powerful actor in Syria’s polarized political map.
The growing unrest is occurring amid ongoing talks on the further fate of the Syrian region of North and East, in which local, regional, and international actors are fighting for influence. The SDF with the support of the United States has been one of the most effective forces fighting against ISIS but now the organization is actively pressing on the SDF from Turkey and SNA. On the other hand, the transitional government as well as other factions aspire to have their control over the delated, wealthy and crucial for the given nations sector.
The civilians affected lose their lives and properties while the death toll in the conflict rising increases each day. After the conflict, communities became displaced, infrastructures and structures demolished, and the humanitarian situation worsened, people felt insecure. If anything at all, it means that with the continuation of the fighting, the solution seems to have been moved further away. Displacement, damage to infrastructure, and a deepening humanitarian crisis have left many in the region facing uncertainty and fear.
With the fighting now continuing, the prospect of a resolution appears to have only receded. Without serious discussions and measures to reduce tensions, they note, the violence threatens to make the bloodshed worse and to further destabilize the region, with implications that extend to Syria and its neighbors. Northeast Syria, for now, is a flash point, and increasingly a tangled web of competing interests and unresolved tensions.
