DAMASCUS, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army and the Kurdish forces cooperated on Thursday and retook a village from the Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria, an incident that marked military cooperation between both forces against the Turkey-led offensive in northern Syria, according to a war monitor.
The Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured the village of Um Shaifeh in the countryside of Hasakah province following intense battles with the Turkish forces and the Turkey-backed rebels, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Turkey began its campaign against the SDF and its broader umbrella of the Kurdish People's Protection Units, known as YPG, on Oct. 9 as Ankara deems these groups as terrorists and separatists.
A few deals have taken place since Oct. 9 under the Russian mediation, which led to halting the fights in some areas and the entry of Syrian troops to Kurdish-held areas on the Syrian-Turkish border to strip Turkey of its pretext to continue the offensive.
However, Turkey has recently charged that the Kurdish militia didn't withdraw from certain areas near the Turkish border as planned, which explains the renewed fighting between the Kurdish militia and the Kurdish-backed rebels.
But Thursday's cooperation between the Syrian army and the Kurdish militia is a fresh development in the current course of action in northern Syria as both sides were not on the same page regarding the situation in Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria, with the Kurdish forces wanting an autonomy while the Syrian government rejecting any form of separatism.
