Qamishli clashes (April 2016)

The Qamishli clashes (April 2016) were urban clashes between paramilitary police of the Asayish and the pro-government National Defence Forces in the city of al-Qamishli, Syria.

Timeline

On 20 April 2016, National Defence Forces militias attacked an Asayish patrol when Kurdish police failed to stop at a government checkpoint inside the al-Qamishli District. According to Kurdish sources the NDF killed 2 Asayish members and 2 civilians with sniper fire. Additional clashes then escalated between the two factions, with Asayish forces taking part in the fighting, killing 8 NDF members and arresting others.

The next day, the Asayish encircled government forces in the center of the city, taking over a bakery and a prison, with five Asayish fighters being killed. 45 NDF militiamen surrendered and several civilians were killed. During the battle Asayish forces removed a poster of Bashar al-Assad in captured areas. In response, the Syrian Army shelled the prison and surrounding areas with mortars, killing 4 civilians in the nearby neighborhoods. On the same day, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed a car bomb attack that killed and wounded 15 Kurdish fighters in the city. In the evening, the NDF and Sootoro reversed some of Asayish's gains and captured two checkpoints, a stadium, and a hospital in the city.

An indefinite ceasefire was declared on 22 April. According to the ceasefire agreement, each side will keep the territory under its control. The ceasefire gave Kurds more territory in Northern Syria.

Aftermath

Nearly two dozen of the captured pro-government fighters were subsequently released under the terms of the ceasefire on 25 April.

On 8 May, Kurdish units(YPG) surrender Allaya prison, Qamishli's Automated Bakery and Municipality Building in city of Qamishli to Syrian army after they were dominated by the Kurds during the last month events in Qamishli.

See also

• Wusta clashes
• Rojava–Syrian government relations