Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head, Rami Abdul Rahman told Reuters Saturday that Syrian Kurds clashed with Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad's forces at northeast Syria. This led to the breaking of a longstanding truce between the two sides to focus attention on Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Abdul Rahman explained that Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) opened fire on Al-Assad's forces, after they took control of strategic buildings in an area at pre-dominated Kurdish northeast of Syria, of which both sides had agreed on would stay neutral. He said: "There has been some serious fighting today. Kurdish fighters arrested 10 soldiers and Baath party gunmen. There is now fighting in many areas of Hassakeh." He added that YPG and the government had agreed on dividing Hassakeh city into zones to share power and control. However, Al-Assad's forces shelled three Kurdish-dominated areas near Hassakeh, which pushed YPG fighters into clashing with Syrian regime forces inside the city, according to YPG's website. According to the United Nations, around 200,000 people have lost their lives in the escalating conflict between Al-Assad's forces and opposition forces. Syria's bloody conflict has destroyed entire neighborhoods and forced more than nine million people to leave their homes, since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
