Fighting between Syria's Kurdish forces, pro-Assad militia enters fourth day
CENTCOM commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said the United States is "prepared to assist" the Kurdish-led forces to de-escalate clashes.
Fighting escalated between Syria’s Kurdish-led forces and members of a pro-regime militia in the northeastern city of Qamishli on Friday after a local community leader was shot dead returning home from a meeting about reducing tensions in the city.
Shaykh Hayes al-Jaryan, also known as Abu Lawrence, was killed late Thursday night near his home near Qamishli airport, an area controlled by the pro-regime National Defense Force militia, according to local officials.
One local source described al-Jaryan as an independent mediator who had “a good relationship” with the Syrian Democratic Forces. His son Lawrence was killed in the war against the Islamic State in 2014.
No group has claimed credit for al-Jaryan's death, which has renewed urban fighting that broke out earlier this week between Kurdish-led security forces and the NDF around the Tayy neighborhood, in which families from the Arab tribe of the same name are prominent.
