The Japan Times - Syrian leader urges Kurdish integration as army sends troops east of Aleppo

Syria's Islamist-led government is seeking to extend its authority across the country following the ouster of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad a year ago.

But progress has stalled on folding the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the central government despite a deal reached in March, and differences between the two sides have occasionally boiled over into fighting.

In excerpts broadcast by state television from an unaired interview with the Iraqi Kurdish channel Al Shams, Sharaa said "protecting the Kurdish population requires integration into the new reality, as the Syrian state represents a significant asset for them".

The Syrian army had earlier urged civilians to stay from all Kurdish military positions east of Aleppo, adding that "a humanitarian corridor will be opened towards the city" on Thursday morning until the afternoon.

The United States, which for years has supported the Kurdish fighters but also backs Syria's new authorities, urged all parties to "avoid actions that could further escalate tensions" in a statement by the US military's Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper.

Sharaa said Washington "is clearly and explicitly pushing for the unity of Syrian territory and giving Syria a chance to rebuild", accusing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of "going against all these currents".

- 'Closed military zone' -

Syrian state television on Tuesday published an army statement with a map declaring a large area east of Aleppo city a "closed military zone" and saying "all armed groups in this area must withdraw to the east of the Euphrates" River.

State news agency SANA published images on Wednesday showing military reinforcements en route to the area from the coastal province of Latakia, while a military source on the ground, requesting anonymity, said reinforcements were arriving from both Latakia and the Damascus region.

Both sides reported limited skirmishes overnight.

Kurdish forces in a statement accused government troops of bombing a post office, a bakery and other civilian facilities in Deir Hafer, warning of "a wider confrontation and its serious repercussions on civilians, infrastructure, and vital facilities".

An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of Deir Hafer, on the edge of the closed zone, reported hearing intermittent shelling on Wednesday, which the military source said was the government targeting SDF positions.

The SDF controls swathes of the country's oil-rich north and northeast, much of which it captured during Syria's civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group.

- 'Connection to Qandil' -

On Monday, Syria accused the SDF of sending reinforcements to Deir Hafer and said it would send its own personnel there in response.

Kurdish forces on Tuesday denied any build-up of their personnel and accused the government of attacking the town, while state television said SDF sniper fire there killed one person.

Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration, accused government forces of "preparing themselves for another attack" and breaking the March agreement on Kurdish integration.

Syria's government took full control of Aleppo city over the weekend after capturing its Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh neighbourhoods and evacuating fighters there to Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast.

Both sides traded blame over who started last week's violence, which left scores dead according to a monitor.

In his interview, Sharaa accused the SDF of having "a clear and public connection to Qandil", referring to the mountain range in northern Iraq where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is headquartered.

Turkey, a key backer of Damascus, has long been hostile to the SDF, seeing it as an extension of the PKK and a major threat along its southern border.

Last year, the PKK announced an end to its long-running armed struggle against the Turkish state and began destroying its weapons, but Ankara has insisted that the move includes armed Kurdish groups in Syria.

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Y.Watanabe--JT