Assad forces risk aerial showdown with US jets

SYRIAN regime jets risked an aerial confrontation with US warplanes yesterday after flying over a battleground city in northern Syria despite warnings that bombing there could lead to American forces opening fire.

The US scrambled its own jets on Thursday after the Assad regime’s aircraft dropped bombs on Kurdish forces in the city of Hasakah, dangerously close to American commandos operating on the ground.

The incident ended without shots being fired but the Pentagon warned that similar bombing raids could lead to US jets shooting down planes. “The Syrian regime would be well advised not to interfere with coalition forces or its partners,” a spokesman said.

It is believed to be the closest that American aircraft have come to opening fire on regime jets.

Damascus appeared to be probing the limits of the warning yesterday as its air force flew more sorties over Hasakeh. It was not clear whether the regime aircraft dropped bombs.

The rising tensions between the US and Syria came as Turkey’s prime minister said his country intended to play a “more active” role in the conflict in Syria. “Turkey will be more active in the Syria issue in the coming six months as a regional player. This means to not allow Syria to be divided on any ethnic base; for Turkey this is crucial,” Binali Yildirim said.

Mr Yildirim also said Turkey was prepared to see Bashar al-Assad, the regime leader, play a role in the country’s interim leadership as part of a transition but must play no part in its future.

Turkey’s promise to assert itself appears to have been prompted by fears that Kurdish gains in northern Syria and may encourage Kurds in Turkey to rise up too. “It is clear that the regime has understood the structure Kurds are trying to form in the north [of Syria] has started to become a threat for Syria too,” Mr Yildirim said.

Turkey’s anxieties mean its interests are at least temporarily aligned with the Assad regime’s, as both sides try to prevent Kurdish power from growing.

Fighting between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units intensified yesterday inside Hasakeh.

The clashes threaten to escalate into a full-blown war between Kurds and the regime, which would open yet another new front in the already fiendishly complex war.

Pro-government media said there had been preliminary meetings to organise a truce, in what some interpreted as a sign of the regime’s unwillingness to fight yet another enemy.