Possible mutual assassinations between SDF and PKK
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Possible mutual assassinations between SDF and PKK
On August 6, 2022, an explosion of unknown origin targeted a military vehicle as it was passing through the Al-Sina`a neighborhood in the city of Qamishli, killing 4 people and wounding others. This was followed by the announcement of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that the bombing came as a result of a Turkish drone strike, led to the killing of a leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Mazloum Saad Eddin Asaad, whose nom de guerre was "Zukhar Amuda", who was assigned to supervise the SDF's military police.
On the 8th of the same month, several institutions and organizations affiliated with the PKK and the PYD staged a protest sit-in in the vicinity of Qamishli International Airport, which the Russian forces use as a military base. The vigil was to denounce Moscow's lack of commitment to its role as a guarantor to prevent Turkish air targeting operations against the Kurdish-led group.
After the protest event ended, a delegation from the PPK and its Syrian branch entered Qamishli Airport and met with a number of Russian officers and military advisors, led by the commander of the Russian forces operating in al-Hasakah Governorate. The Russian advisers reported the work of the expert group on monitoring ceasefire violations with regard to this bombing. The report concluded that an explosive device was remotely detonated inside the car, noting that the air traffic control system at the airport did not monitor any Turkish drone movement at the time of the accident, within a radius of 70 km in the vicinity of the explosion site.
The findings of the Russian experts' report practically brought into question the credibility of the “SDF” narrative about similar bombing incidents, which have increased recently. These findings also contain several indications, the most important of which are:
• It is likely to be mutual assassinations between the SDF and the PKK, or an internal conflict is likely to be erupted between foreign and local cadres as they are working on reducing the role and breaking free from the grip of the PKK and its institutions.
• Russia’s attempt to undermine confidence between the “SDF” and the PKK and between the PYD and the International Coalition as well, especially with the recent visits made by American diplomats and military officers to the region and the meetings they held with the local leaders of the SDF and the Autonomous Administration. The above-mentioned is to be added to the possibility of delivering recommendations to the SDF by the American officers in order to dispel Turkish fears as a tactic makes Turkey give up threatening to launch a military action.
