Northwestern al-Hasakah countryside (northeastern Syria) saw a notable field development on Wednesday evening, 28 January, as direct clashes and an exchange of shelling broke out between Syrian government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces ("SDF") on the Tell Tamer axis (in al-Hasakah governorate, northeastern Syria). The front had remained relatively calm for long periods compared to other contact lines.

Exchange of shelling, heightened tensions

Enab Baladi correspondents in northeastern Syria and local sources said Syrian army artillery targeted "SDF" positions in the villages of al-Aghibesh, Tal Jumaa, and Aliyah in the Tell Tamer countryside.

The shelling came in response to "SDF" strikes on the villages of Areesheh, Dabsa, and al-Maqran in the Ras al-Ain countryside (in northern al-Hasakah governorate, northeastern Syria).

Despite the intensity of the mutual fire, the sources said there had been no change in the control map or contact lines as of the time of publication.

However, severe tension continues across the area. Earlier on Wednesday, additional skirmishes involving medium weapons and drones were reported around the villages of Rmelan al-Basha and al-Yusufiyah in southern Rmelan countryside (in al-Hasakah governorate, northeastern Syria).

Tell Tamer, a sensitive area with a conflict memory

This escalation carries added sensitivity because it is centered in the Tell Tamer countryside, an area considered a historical and demographic stronghold of Syria's Assyrian Christian community.

Villages such as Tal Jumaa hold a painful symbolic place in residents' memories, having been the scene of an Islamic State attack in February 2015.

At the time, the area faced a large-scale assault targeting the Assyrian presence. The attack included the bombing of the historic Church of the Virgin Mary in Tal Jumaa and the abduction of hundreds of residents, triggering a mass displacement wave that emptied villages of many of their original inhabitants.

Today's tensions have renewed fears among the remaining residents that their villages and places of worship could once again become a theater of military conflict.

The importance of this escalation lies in the fact that it breaks the state of relative field calm between Syrian government forces and the "SDF" on this specific axis. Meanwhile, military sources reported complete calm on the Ayn al-Arab/Kobani fronts (in northern Aleppo countryside, northern Syria).