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Seven Syrian soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in a drone attack by the YPG/SDF terrorist group targeting an ammunition site in northeastern Hasakah province, Syria's Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
Army units discovered a workshop for manufacturing improvised explosive devices and drone munitions near the al-Yarubiyah border crossing in Hasakah countryside. The facility contained several Iranian-made drones that the SDF was preparing to arm, according to the ministry. After troops began securing and sweeping the site, the SDF targeted it with a suicide drone, killing seven soldiers and injuring 20 others.
"We consider these actions a dangerous escalation and a clear violation of the ceasefire, and a desire by the SDF organization to continue targeting Syrians and their army and to disregard all previous agreements," the Syrian Arab Army Operations Authority told Syrian News Agency (SANA).
The attack came after the Syrian presidency announced Tuesday that a "mutual understanding" had been reached with the SDF regarding the future of Hasakah province. The Defense Ministry announced a four-day ceasefire with the SDF, which took effect at 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
Syria's Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra warned that the YPG/SDF has conducted arbitrary detentions in Hasakah that threaten the ceasefire. Following the ceasefire taking effect at 8 p.m. local time Tuesday, the YPG/SDF detained numerous Arab youths in Hasakah city center.
The detained youths were forcibly taken to unknown locations by YPG/SDF elements.
"The arbitrary detention of dozens of residents in Hasakah by the SDF threatens the entire ceasefire. The SDF must immediately stop these arbitrary detentions and release all detainees," Abu Qasra said.
The four-day ceasefire and integration agreement between Damascus and the YPG/SDF requires the group's full withdrawal from Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces east of the Euphrates River, the handover of public institutions in Hasakah to the state, all border crossings and energy resources under central authority control, and individual integration of YPG/SDF elements into security forces.
The Syrian Army launched operations against the YPG/SDF on Jan. 16 in areas west of the Euphrates River.
The operation later expanded east of the river with tribal participation, bringing much of the territory formerly held by the group under Syrian government control. The YPG/SDF refused to comply with the previous agreement, prompting fighting to resume on Jan. 19.
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The Syrian Army also said Wednesday that civilians and soldiers were killed in explosions of landmines and explosive devices planted by the YPG/SDF in Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and eastern Aleppo as the group withdrew from these territories.
The army's Operation Command called on civilians in these regions "not to enter the sites or tunnels of the SDF organization" in northeastern Syria.
"The SDF organization and PKK terrorists booby-trapped doors, corridors, and tunnels, and planted explosive devices disguised as rocks and construction bricks," the statement said.
The SDF rigged explosives throughout most of their former positions. "The SDF also rigged with explosives household furniture and vehicles in most of their former sites, in addition to the houses where they had been stationed and areas near public roads," according to the statement.
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