Syrian Kurdish militia says will "not be silent" over govt attacks

Syrian government warplanes bombed Kurdish-controlled areas of the city of Hasaka in northeastern Syria on Thursday for the first time in the five-year-old civil war, the spokesman for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and a monitoring group said.

 

YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said the air strikes had hit Kurdish districts of the city, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish groups, and the positions of a Kurdish security force known as the Asayish.

 

"There are martyrs and wounded," he told Reuters.

 

The YPG controls wide areas of northeastern Syria, where Kurdish groups have established an autonomous government since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011. The Syrian government still has footholds in the cities of Qamishli and Hasaka.

 

The YPG  later on said it would "not be silent" over government attacks including air strikes in the city of Hasaka, calling them an act of flagrant aggression.
 
"We, in the People's Protection Units, will not be silent over these barbaric, flagrant attacks against our people and will stand firmly to protect it. Every hand spattered with the blood of our people will be held to account through all possible and available means," the statement said.