entered two northern towns Saturday morning after the command of Kurdish-led fighters said it would evacuate the area in an apparent move to avoid conflict.
asserted
it → enter → conflict
Two soldiers were killed and others wounded in the latest clash
asserted
others → kill → clash
, state media reported.
asserted
media → report → ?
The town of Deir Hafer changed hands after deadly fighting erupted earlier this month between government troops and the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces
, Syria's largest.
asserted
fighting → change → troops
It ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from three neighborhoods taken over by government forces.
asserted
It → end → forces
An Associated Press reporter on Saturday saw government tanks, armored personnel carriers and other vehicles, including pickup trucks with heavy machine guns mounted on top, entering Deir Hafer after bulldozers removed barriers.
asserted
bulldozers → see → barriers
The Syrian military said its forces were in full control of Deir Hafer, captured the Jarrah air base to the east, and were in the process of clearing mines and explosives.
asserted
forces → say → mines
It added that troops would move toward the nearby town of Maskana, where an AP reporter saw a military convoy rolling in hours later.
asserted
convoy → add → Maskana
The SDF said in a statement that according to an agreement, Syrian forces were supposed to enter Deir Hafer and Maskana after the Kurdish-led force ended their withdrawal.
uncertain
force → say → withdrawal
"Damascus violated the terms of the agreement and entered the towns before our fighters had fully withdrawn, creating a highly dangerous situation with potentially serious repercussions," the SDF said.
asserted
SDF → violate → repercussions
State news agency SANA reported that SDF fighters "violated the agreement" by targeting an army patrol near Maskana, leaving two soldiers dead and others wounded.
asserted
fighters → report → soldiers
SANA added that government forces kept moving east, reaching two villages in the northern province of Raqqa.
asserted
forces → add → Raqqa
Over the past two days, more than 11,000 people fled Deir Hafer and Maskana using side roads to reach government-controlled areas, after the government announced an offensive to take the towns.
asserted
government → flee → towns
On Friday night, after government forces started pounding SDF positions in Deir Hafer, the Kurdish-led fighters' top commander Mazloum Abdi posted on X that his group would withdraw from contested areas in northern Syria.
asserted
group → start → Syria
Abdi said SDF fighters would relocate east of the Euphrates River starting 7 a.m. local time Saturday.
asserted
fighters → say → a.m.
The easing of tension came after U.S. military officials visited Deir Hafer on Friday and held talks with SDF officials in the area.
asserted
officials → come → area
The United States has good relations with both sides and has urged calm.
asserted
States → have → calm
Abdi was scheduled to hold talks with U.S. special special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil on Saturday.
asserted
Abdi → schedule → Saturday
The SDF's decision to withdraw from Deir Hafer was made after Syria's
issued a decree Friday boosting the rights of the country's Kurds, who made up about 10% of Syria's population of 23 million before the conflict began in 2011.
asserted
conflict → withdraw → 2011
Over the past decades, Syria's Kurds had been marginalized and deprived of their cultural rights under the rule of the Baath Party that ran Syria for six decades until in December 2024.Al
asserted
that → marginalize → December
-Sharaa's decree recognized Kurdish as a national language, along with Arabic, and adopted the Newroz festival, a traditional celebration of spring and renewal marked by Kurds around the region, as an official holiday.
asserted
decree → recognize → holiday
The Kurdish-led authority in northeast Syria said Saturday that the rights of Kurds should not be protected by "temporary decrees" but by mentioning them in the country's constitution.
asserted
rights → lead → constitution
It added that a decree "does not form a real guarantee for rights of Syria's ethnic groups."
asserted
decree → add → groups
The Aporia
