Syrian army, Kurdish forces reach deal on Hasakah truce

Syrian government troops and Kurdish forces, who recently engaged in clashes in Hasakah, have reached an agreement to stop fighting in the contested northeastern Syrian city.

According to a statement released on Tuesday by an unidentified Kurdish official, the agreement included "a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all armed forces from the city."

Under the terms of the accord, the warring sides would also exchange detainees and the wounded and reopen roads blocked off during fighting, the official added.

The official further told AFP that the Syrian soldiers and the fighters with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) would withdraw from Hasakah while police forces belonging to the two parties would remain there.

The ceasefire deal was brokered "under the auspices of Russian military officials,” the official pointed out.

Syrian state television confirmed the truce, which came one day after a meeting between officials from the Syrian government, Kurdish fighters and Russia in the Hmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia.

Scuffles broke out between the Kurdish police force, known as Asayish, and the pro-government National Defense Forces (NDF) in Hasakah on Wednesday.

The violence erupted despite both parties battling the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which is wreaking havoc in the country.

Kurdish forces accused the Syrian army of conducting airstrikes on areas where they were being trained by the US, prompting Washington to scramble its aircraft over there.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that the Kurdish fighters now control 90 percent of Hasakah, the capital of the province with the same name.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict in the Arab country.

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