Syria: PYD besieges regime forces in Al-Hasakah

By Mohamed Misto

AL-HASAKAH, Syria (AA) - PYD group, the Syrian affiliate of the terrorist PKK organization, has besieged government forces in Al-Hasakah city in northeastern Syria, according to local sources.

“PYD gunmen have advanced south of the city’s center and controlled several regime institutions,” one of the sources, who preferred to be unnamed due to security concerns, told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

The source said PYD fighters have also seized a number of regime military checkpoints in central Al-Hasakah.

According to the source, regime forces have intensified artillery bombardment of several districts in western al-Hasakah, amid reports of casualties.

At least 46 civilians were killed and scores injured in regime attacks in the city since Thursday, the source said.

“At least 30 PYD gunmen were also killed,” the source added.

Last week, the Syrian regime carried out airstrike against PYD positions Al-Hasakah in the vicinity of U.S. Special Forces.

Washington considers the PYD an ally in its fight against the Daesh terrorist group.

On Saturday, the new commander of US forces in Iraq and Syria, General Stephen Townsend, has vowed to defend U.S. troops against any attacks by regime forces.

“We've informed the Russians where we're at ... (they) tell us they've informed the Syrians, and I'd just say that we will defend ourselves if we feel threatened," Townsend said.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, put the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.