Kurds versus Syrian army battle intensifies, complicating multi-fronted war

The two sides have mostly avoided confrontation during the five-year conflict, with the government focusing its efforts against Sunni Arab rebels in the west, and the Kurds mainly fighting Islamic State in northern Syria.

In an indication of their reluctance to escalate further, pro-government media said on August 20 they had held preliminary peace talks.

After the fighting broke out this week, government warplanes bombed Kurdish-held areas of Hasaka, one of two cities in the largely Kurdish-held northeast where the government has maintained enclaves.

Fighting there could complicate the battle against Islamic State because of the Kurds' pivotal role in the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces' (SDF) fight against the group.

On Friday, warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition flew what the Pentagon called protective patrols around Hasaka to prevent Syrian jets from targeting U.S. special forces, who are operating on the ground with the SDF, the first sorties of their kind in the war.

Ground fighting intensified late on August 19 when Kurdish YPG fighters battled Syrian forces, whose air force flew sorties over the city, Kurds and monitors said.

"The clashes continue in areas inside the city today. There were military operations," a Kurdish official said.

Many inhabitants of Kurdish areas fled on August 19 and at least 41 people have been killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitoring group, said.

"There are efforts to cool things between the army and the Asayish (YPG-affiliated forces), and a first meeting was held aimed at a ceasefire," Sham FM, a pro-government radio station, reported.