In northeastern Syria, provocations by the paramilitary group Difa al-Watani (National Defense Forces, NDF) are leading to further tensions in the region. Most recently, the regime turned the spiral of escalation this Sunday in Heseke, as a result of which an armed confrontation broke out. The 25-minute gun battle left one dead and three wounded.

The skirmish took place in the Marsho neighborhood, which is under the control of the autonomous administration in the city. A group of Difa al-Watani members - dressed in both civilian and military clothing - marched up to an internal security (Asayish) checkpoint during the midday hours and initially attacked the forces on duty with stones and clubs. Shortly thereafter, the first shots were fired. The direction from which the shots came was initially unclear, as a smoke bomb was detonated at the same time. The Asayish responded to the attack on the basis of legitimate self-defense, taking into account the civilian population.  

The dead man is said to be an officer of the Syrian regime police, and his name was given as Muhammed Rihail. According to available information, the identity of one of the injured is Soleiman al-Khadban. 

Why is the regime provoking?

According to one source, who does not wish to have his name mentioned here for security reasons, the four people were not shot by Asayish members at all, but by their own people. The same source pointed out that the Damascus government wants to blame the autonomous administration and its security forces for the self-provoked incident for propaganda purposes. "The point is to claim that civilians are being attacked in northeastern Syria."

Series of tensions since the turn of the year

Today's incident joins a whole series of tensions that were initially initiated in a controlled manner by Russia in the first days of 2021. Since the visit of the head of the Turkish intelligence service MIT, Hakan Fidan, to Damascus, provocations have become increasingly frequent in Heseke and especially in Qamishlo.