ANKARA (Anadolu Agency) — At least one Syrian army soldier was killed and four others wounded in northern Syria on Sunday due to an ongoing conflict between forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad and the YPG/PKK armed group.

Regime supporters also organized a protest against the armed group in the town of Qamishli, the region with a Russian military base. They demanded the YPG/PKK to stop the blockade of places where regime forces are present. Calling to rein in the armed group, the demonstrators entered the airport where the Russian airbase is located.

Tensions began when the YPG/PKK was pressed to let the regime forces control the town of Ayn Issa in northern Syria. The Kurdish armed organization reacted by detaining some members of the regime forces in the Qamishli district on December 28, 2020. The legal regime forces in the district also rounded up some members of the organization in retaliation.

Those held were released after Russian mediation, easing the tensions for a while. But mutual arrests continued, and the YPG/PKK blockaded the military regions known as “Security Square” in Qamishli on January 8, and in al-Hasakah on January 16.