04/13/24: The Semalka crossing bridge connecting northeastern Syria to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was reopened after being out of service for the previous month due to flood related damage sustained on March 20th.
04/15/24: A member of the SNA Military Police was killed while attempting to stop clashes between members of the Damalkhah clan and fighters affiliated with SNA faction Furqat al-Hamzah in the northern Aleppo village of Lilawah. The fighting lasted into the next day before Furqat al-Hamzah eventually turned over two of its fighters accused of provoking the clashes to the SNA Military Police.
04/15/24: The Tell Abyad Civil Judiciary released a former member of the regime-affiliated National Defense Forces sparking a major uproar in the Turkish/SNA-controlled ‘Peace Spring’ region and within the pro-opposition media sphere more broadly. ‘Ammar Yasir al-Idris, the man in question, was an affiliate of ‘Abd al-Qadir Hamo - the al-Hasakah city NDF commander who notably rebelled against other regime security apparatuses in September of last year, leading to his killing during the large scale clashes that rocked the regime-controlled pocket of the city. A week later al-Idris was captured by the SIG Civil Police in the Serê Kaniyê/Ras al-’Ain countryside while attempting to escape to Turkey. Several hours later SNA coalition Harakat al-Tahrir wa’l-Bina’ announced that its fighters had arrested al-Idris while he was attempting to return to SDF-controlled territory. The judiciary also reportedly released an alleged member of an SDF-affiliated cell involved in IED attacks in Tell Abyad on the same day. These case call back to an incident in April 2023 when the al-Ra’i judiciary released a former SAA soldier (arrested while attempting to make it to Turkey) for approximately $150.
04/17/24: Syria’s small Ezidi community - native to several clusters of villages in southeastern Afrin and northwestern al-Hasakah - celebrated Çarşema Sor or Ezidi New Year. In Afrin a small celebration (see video below) was held in the town of Burj ‘Abdallo and notably attended by notorious SNA Furqat al-Sultan Suleiman Shah commander Muhammed Jassim “Abu ‘Amshah.” As has become the case with Newroz in the last year or two Abu ‘Amshah’s appearance in Burj ‘Abdallo shows how some SNA factions have seemingly seen advantage to be gained in making overtures to the remaining native Kurdish population, either in terms of PR or in an attempt to gain local support against other SNA factions (similar to what Tahrir al-Sham has been accused of with regards to Idlib’s Christian and Druze populations).
04/18/24: The Syrian Interim Government’s Minister of Defense Hassan al-Hamadah visited the site of the SNA’s future Military College, currently being constructed somewhere in the Afrin region. The Minister of Defense was met by the Military College director Ahmad al-Kurdi, the former head of the SNA Military Police. Both men defected from the Syrian armed forces at the start of the war: former Air Force Colonel al-Hamadah flew his MiG-21 into Jordan in June 2012 before going on to form the CIA-supported 101st Infantry Division in Idlib, while al-Kurdi was a member of Aleppo city opposition faction Tajammu’ Fastaqim Kama Umirt.
04/18/24: A reported Turkish drone strike targeted a car in the vicinity of ‘Ain al-Bat, located east of Kobanî city. The vehicle targeted belonged to a local middle age civilian couple who were severely wounded in the attack.
04/19/24: Turkey targeted the al-Sa’idah oil pumping station in northern al-Hasakah with some sort of projectiles - SDF-affiliated Hawar News Agency reported the attack was conducted with drones though the weapons fragments seen at the scene appear to belong to mortar rounds. Al-Sa’idah is the largest of numerous pump stations located northeast of the town of Tribespî/al-Qahtaniyah and has been targeted with Turkish drone strikes a handful of times since Turkey began attacking AANES-controlled oil and energy infrastructure in late 2022.
04/19/24: An exchange between took place at the ‘Aoun al-Dadat crossing on the Manbij front lines in which four SNA fighters previous captured and imprisoned by the SDF were traded for the bodies of four fighters belonging to SDF-aligned outfit Hêzên Rizgariya Efrîn. The HRE fighters were killed in a failed raid back in January of this year targeting the SNA-controlled town of Basilê/Baselhaya on the Afrin/al-Shahba’ front lines. Images from the exchange showing SNA Furqat al-Sultan Suleiman Shah commander Abu ‘Amshah posing with Ibrahim al-Banawi, commander of SDF Manbij Military Council component faction Liwa’ Jund al-Haramain caused an uproar on pro-opposition social media.
04/19/24: Coalition representatives attended a meeting held between the SDF, the local administration and “approximately 64 local tribal leaders to discuss security and stability concerns” in Deir ez-Zour. Senior SDF cadre Luqman Xelîl, a key advisor to Mazloum ‘Abdi and former leading cadre of the SDF’s Deir ez-Zour Military Council, appears to have presided over the event. Meanwhile reported attacks targeting the SDF continued in the region over the week, attributed to either the NDF in regime-controlled Deir ez-Zour, ‘tribal forces,’ or the Islamic State.
Claimed Islamic State attacks against the SDF:
04/19/24: Attack targeting an SDF vehicle in al-Sabhah, central Deir ez-Zour, allegedly injuring at least one fighter.