DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syria’s government said a drone strike by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) killed seven of its soldiers on Wednesday, though the SDF denied this, in an incident that threatens to derail a ceasefire after days of fighting in the northeast.
The Syrian army called the attack, which it said took place as soldiers were securing a captured military base containing explosives, a dangerous escalation.
The SDF said it had not carried out a strike and that the blast had occurred when Syrian soldiers were moving explosives.
Syrian troops were still positioned outside the last main Kurdish-held cities in the northeast, Hasakah and Qamishli, on Wednesday, Reuters reporters in the area said.
They had brought significant reinforcements the previous evening, with convoys of tanks and other military vehicles, as well as buses packed with fighters, arriving late into the night.
