Infighting Erupts among Turkish-Backed Militants in Syria’s Hasakah

Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing local sources, reported on Thursday that the clashes erupted between two rival groups in villages located on the countryside of R'as al-Ain city near the Turkish-Syrian border.

The infighting flared up after dispute over distribution of money and stolen objects, which the terrorists had looted from the area. They also had disagreements over the possession of weapons recently smuggled from neighboring Turkey.

Sources say both sides used light and heavy weapons, which caused a fire to burst out of control and spread to agricultural land at Ain al-Hussan and nearby villages in the area.

Last week, many farms in the same troubled province were brunt due to a series of mortar attacks by the Turkish-backed mercenaries.

On May 17, an American aircraft reportedly dropped thermal balloons over agricultural lands and farms in Hasakah, setting fire to wheat crops in the area. The targeted area was part of agricultural lands in the countryside of al-Shaddadi.

In recent months, there has also been a surge in abductions in the areas where the Turkish-backed militants are present, particularly in the key border town of Ra's 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 fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.

Ankara 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.

The Kurdish-led administration in northeastern Syria says the Turkish offensive has killed hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children since it started.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials have said the Damascus government will respond through all legitimate means available to the ongoing ground offensive by the Turkish forces and allied Takfiri militants in the northern part of the war-battered Arab country.