The Operations Authority in the Syrian Army reported a violation of the agreement by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as they targeted a patrol of the Syrian Arab Army near the city of Maskaneh, resulting in the martyrdom of two soldiers and the injury of others.
In a statement carried by SANA news agency, the Authority stated that groups affiliated with the “Kurdistan Workers’ Party” (PKK) are deployed in several villages and towns west of the Euphrates, obstructing the implementation of the agreement and targeting army forces, stressing that the army will continue to extend its control over areas west of the Euphrates and will confront any targeting of its forces.
The Media and Communication Department of the Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that SANA news agency and military media correspondents were subjected to gunfire by the QSD organization near the town of Dipsi Afnan in the Raqqa countryside.
The Operations Authority warned of elements of the “Kurdistan Workers’ Party” planting mines on the “Shuaib al-Zikr” bridge in the western Raqqa countryside with the aim of disrupting the implementation of the agreement, noting that the bombing of the bridge would have “very serious” consequences.
In contrast, the QSD accused the Syrian government of committing “violations” of the terms of the internationally sponsored agreement, considering that the clashes in Maskaneh in the eastern Aleppo countryside resulted from the entry of government forces into the cities of Deir Hafer and Maskaneh before the completion of the withdrawal of its fighters, and called on the international powers sponsoring the agreement to intervene immediately to ensure compliance with its terms and prevent the deterioration of the situation.
On the field level, after the withdrawal of the QSD from the areas of contact, the Syrian army announced its entry into areas west of the Euphrates, starting from the city of Deir Hafer, and its control over Maskaneh and Dipsi Afnan, in addition to the al-Jarrah military airport, while the Ministry of Defense confirmed the deployment of the army in Deir Hafer in the eastern Aleppo countryside and its securing.
Sources in the Syrian army reported that hundreds of QSD elements surrendered to government forces, while Syrian media showed footage of the army entering the villages and towns from which the QSD withdrew, after previously calling on civilians not to enter the areas of operations until they were secured and mines and remnants of war were removed.
The Operations Authority confirmed that army forces are continuing to extend control west of the Euphrates and are advancing towards the city of al-Tabqa, stressing that QSD elements are not being targeted during their withdrawal.
The QSD commander “Mazloum Abdi” had announced his agreement to withdraw from eastern Aleppo after international mediation, as part of the commitment to the March 10 agreement and the redeployment east of the Euphrates. This came after violent clashes in the city of Aleppo last week, which ended with an agreement on the exit of Kurdish forces from the Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh and Beni Zaid neighborhoods.
