"The Syrian government threatened us with a military strike and we had to respond," said Mazlum Kobani, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, in a statement about the unrest in the northern Syrian cities of Qamishlo and Hasaka.

Speaking to Al-Hadath Arab Network about the clashes between the central government forces known as Al-Watani and the governing forces of northern and eastern Syria in Qamishlo and Hasaka, Kobani said that security tensions in these cities are the result of the Syrian government's mentality.

Kobani also said that a delegation from the Syrian Democratic Assembly had traveled to Damascus to negotiate with central government officials, but that the talks had been fruitless and that the central government was dealing with issues with a pre-2011 mentality.

"The reason for the recent security problems is not the visit of the Democratic Assembly to Damascus," he said, adding that "There have been fruitless trips before. The main reason is that the Syrian government is threatening the region with a military strike. That is why we have taken such a stand against the forces of the central government."

It should be noted that following the sporadic clashes between the forces of the Syrian central government and the SDF forces in the cities of Qamishlo and Hasaka, some areas under the control of the central government in these cities were surrounded by Kurdish forces.

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