Turkish-Backed Militants Clash over Stolen Objects in Northern Syria

The clashes broke out among the Turkish-backed al-Rahman Corps, the Sultan Murad Division, and Mu'tasim Division in several villages near the towns of Tal Tamr and Ras al-Ain, north of Hasakah province, sources have told the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The infighting flared up after dispute over distribution of stolen objects, which the terrorists looted from houses in the area. They also had disagreements over taking over the houses.

Members of the Sultan Murad Division also set numerous houses in Bu’ayrir village in rural Ras al-Ain on fire after looting them, the SOHR reported.

The arson attack came as in mid-April another Turkish-backed militant group had burned residential buildings in Hasakah.

The acts of arson took place in the town of Tel Arqam, which lies 10 kilometers west of the city of Ras al-Ain near Syria's border with Turkey, where militants from the so-called Badr Martyrs’ Battalion attacked the area.

There has also been a surge in abductions in the areas where the Turkish-backed Takfiri militants are present, particularly in Ras al-Ain.

The Ankara-backed militants were deployed to northeastern Syria last October after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push militants of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.

Turkey views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.

Late last month, the Turkish army brought additional military reinforcements to Syria's Hasakah province as part of Ankara's unauthorized cross-border offensive into the Arab country.

The Syrian government has time and again firmly rejected the Turkish-led operations as a blatant violation of its sovereignty and has vowed to liberate the whole country from the foreign-led occupation.

Syria's Hasakah province has also witnessed the deployment of US military convoys during the past months as Washington has long been supplying the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militant group with arms and training, calling the group a key partner in Washington's purported fight against the Daesh. The YPG is considered as the backbone of the SDF.

Many observers see the support in the context of Washington's scheme to carve out a foothold in Syria.