Renewed fighting erupts in Aleppo between Turkish-backed forces and Kurdish militia

Ankara's zone of control has been coming under Kurdish attack as Syrian and Turkish leaders consider rapprochement

Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces also have a pocket of control north of Aleppo. AFP

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Kurdish militiamen killed five Arab Syrian fighters supported by Ankara in the north-western Aleppo governorate, the Syrian National Army said on Sunday, in renewed incursions into a zone carved out by Turkey six years ago to check the expansion of its Kurdish foes.

“Five of our best young men have been elevated to martyrdom as they were repulsing an infiltration attempt,” said the group, which was set up by Turkey in 2017.

Its mission has been to help Ankara in a number of invasions that created a Turkish-controlled zone in northern Syria, with the tacit approval of Washington and Moscow. The zone foiled plans by Kurdish separatists to acquire a contiguous area in north Syria running along the border with Turkey.

Last month, retaliatory attacks flared up on the same front and one pro-Turkish fighter was killed.

Together with Iran, Turkey, the US and Russia comprise outside powers with zones of influence in Syria, established after the civil war that began in late 2011 after the authorities used deadly force to suppress a peaceful protest movement against President Bashar Al Assad.

Aleppo has emerged as one of the most complex fronts in the war, with a US-backed, Kurdish-dominated militia called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) having carved out, with Russian support, a pocket in the Tal Rifat area north of Aleppo.

Tal Rifat is situated opposite the region of Afrin, which is part of the Turkish zone of control. The SDF forces in Tal Rifat have access through Syrian regime lines to territory the group controls in north-east of Syria, although Damascus is opposed to the SDF's presence there and labels the militia as a US stooge.

The Syrian National Army said it responded to the Kurdish infiltration on Saturday with rocket barrages on the Tal Rifat front on Sunday. There were no reports of casualties.

One source close to the SNA said the aim of the Kurdish incursions was not to take over the area but to send a message to Turkey and its allies that “they will not enjoy stability in Afrin”.

The violence has increased amid a Russian-led a drive to end hostilities between Mr Al Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This could undermine the room for manoeuvre of the Kurdish militia leadership. One of the few issues Damascus and Ankara agree on is the need undermine the SDF, and by extension, the presence of the US in Syria.

This is despite the SDF, and the People Protection Units (YPG), the largest Kurdish militia, which controls the SDF, and which is linked to the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), having played crucial roles in helping Damascus. The top Kurdish militia commanders also have a line to Moscow, Mr Al Assad's most powerful backer.

In 2011-2012 Kurdish armed gangs linked to the PKK helped the central government crush peaceful demonstrations by Kurds in eastern Syria.

In 2016, the YPG supported an offensive by the Syrian army and Shiite militia supported by Iran, backed by the Russian air force, on Aleppo. It resulted in the capture of the eastern, rebel part of the city in December of that year.