The Syrian army clashed with the YPG around Hassakeh on Tuesday after a brief calm as the U.S.-backed terrorists sought to stop their advance in the wake of a landmark deal.
The army advanced through eastern areas of the Euphrates River, where the YPG has strongholds. They were acting to implement a cease-fire and the full integration agreement reached between the sides on Jan. 18.
The fighting is concentrated around Mount Abdulaziz, southeast of Hassakeh. The Syrian Army is currently deployed at four points around the province, including one position near the entrance to the city center.
The army gave the terrorist group until 1 p.m. local time to withdraw its elements from the Karakozak Bridge, located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of the center of Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) and linking Manbij with the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.
After the deadline passed, clashes resumed between the Syrian army and the terrorist group around the Karakozak Bridge and at the entrance to the town of Sirrin.
While clashes continued intermittently overnight in both areas, fighting had largely ceased by morning. Similarly, clashes between Syrian army forces and the terrorist group and remnants of the former Assad regime occupying Aktan Prison, located north of Raqqa city center, had also subsided.
The Syrian army continues to send reinforcements to both regions.
On Sunday, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced a comprehensive cease-fire and full integration agreement between the Syrian government and the YPG, outlining sweeping measures to restore state authority in the country's northeast.
Under the deal, the YPG will withdraw its military formations east of the Euphrates River and hand over administrative and security control of the Raqqa and Deir el-Zour provinces to the Syrian state.
The agreement also provides for the integration of YPG military and security personnel into the Syrian Defense and Interior Ministries following individual security vetting, as well as the transfer of border crossings, oil and gas fields, and civilian institutions to government control.
Negotiations collapsed between Damascus and the YPG on Monday. The YPG was seeking to extend a deadline for the deployment of armed forces to areas it occupied.
The Jan. 18 agreement marked a blow for the YPG's long-held ambitions of preserving the self-styled autonomy it had exercised in swathes of northern Syria for over a decade.
It came after rapid army gains in YPG-occupied territory, with al- Sharaa refusing to concede on a push for decentralization by the YPG.
