Clashes between Syrian army, SDF as country holds parliamentary vote

Violent clashes broke out on Sunday afternoon between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo province as the country held its first parliamentary election since the fall of the Assad regime.

Both sides traded accusations of targeting civilians following an exchange of fire near the town of Deir Hafar, east of Aleppo.

State news agency SANA reported that government forces responded to artillery fire by Kurdish forces in several villages in the area.

In a statement, the SDF said that seven of its fighters were wounded in government drone strikes and accused government forces of indiscriminately attacking the area "to spread panic among the population".

The defence ministry denied the claims and accused the SDF of targeting civilians and trying to destabilise the area.

A local activist told The New Arab's Arabic sister website, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that a construction worker was injured in a drone strike targeting the SDF.

Government forces and Kurdish fighters have engaged in intermittent clashes in north-eastern Syria amid a continued standoff over reintegrating the autonomous region into state institutions.

The SDF is demanding decentralisation whereas the government has offered only limited autonomy, fearing that such an arrangement would fuel other separatism in other parts of the country.

An agreement signed between the two sides in March to reintegrate the region into national institutions and hand over control of strategic sites to the government is yet to be implemented.

The clashes came on the same day as the country held its first parliamentary election of the post-Assad era.

Voting for the 210-member People's Assembly was handled by local electoral colleges, rather than the public, under a new system introduced by the new government that has been criticised for being unrepresentative and centralising power in the hands of the president.

Under the system, Al-Sharaa will handpick a third of the assembly, while the committees will decide the other 140 representatives. Candidates were approved by a national committee appointed by the president.

Voting did not take place in the Kurdish-controlled Hasakah and Raqqa provinces, leaving them unrepresented in the new assembly.

The SDF rejected Sunday's vote as "political theatre" and said the parliament would not represent the will of the Syrian people.