On Monday morning, US forces attacked a Syrian Army checkpoint southeast of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, killing one soldier and injuring two others. The attack reportedly took place after troops at the checkpoint prevented a US military convoy from entering the area.
Residents of Hasakah and Qamishli, two of the largest cities in Hasakah Province, took to the streets on Tuesday for mass demonstrations against the US presence in their country in the wake of Monday's attack on a Syrian Army position.
Smaller demonstrations also reportedly took place in rural communities outside the city of Qamishli.
Local tribal leaders, as well as Hasakah City Orthodox Archbishop Mor Maurice Amsih, took part in the demonstrations, with Amsih calling the US attack an act of “hostility” against the Syrian people, and expressing confidence that all foreign forces who entered his country illegally would eventually be expelled.
The Syrian and US militaries have released diverging accounts of how Monday's incident took place.
Control of oil and gas-rich northeastern Syria is divided between the Syrian government, the US, and its Kurdish allies, as well as Turkey-backed militants who entered the area during Ankara's abortive invasion in late 2019. The regions of Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor contain tens of billions of dollars in untapped energy wealth, and Damascus has sought to return these areas to its control to…