ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Security forces clashed with locals in Syria's northwestern city of Azaz in Aleppo province on Saturday. Police said they came under gunfire while breaking up an armed clash.
Footage published on social media platforms shows a convoy of security forces clashing with unidentified people in Azaz late Saturday. Some accounts claimed the fighting was between state-affiliated forces and an armed group.
Internal Security Forces said in a statement that they were not party to the conflict.
"Patrol personnel handled the situation cautiously in accordance with approved procedures, while the Directorate sent additional security reinforcements to the area. Specialized units continue to handle the situation on the ground to ensure civilian protection and prevent the clashes from spreading," the force's branch in Azaz said in an overnight statement relayed by state media.
It warned that any attack on security forces "will be prosecuted legally."
Protests reportedly erupted in the city following the clashes and the deployment of more security forces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitor that relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said the tensions followed a "security campaign against several wanted suspects in cases related to drug dealing."
SOHR added that "armed clashes erupted with groups that refused to hand over a wanted suspect, amid extensive shooting in several neighbourhoods of the city."
Azaz, near the Turkish border in northern Aleppo province, was long a stronghold of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and served as the group's de facto headquarters before its factions were folded into the new Syrian armed forces following the fall of the Assad government.
