Social media accounts circulated photos of an explosion at a weapons depot belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in al-Hasakah province (northeastern Syria), claiming a Turkish drone strike caused the blast.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said “an explosion” occurred on Sunday, November 2, at an SDF weapons depot in northeastern rural al-Hasakah. Local sources told SANA the depot is near the Amar silos, between Tell Brak and Qamishli (both in al-Hasakah province, northeastern Syria).

SANA added that the sound of an unidentified drone was heard before the blast, without confirmation of any link to the explosion.

Enab Baladi’s correspondent in the city of Ras al-Ain (northwestern al-Hasakah province, northeastern Syria) denied any military strike on the depot, saying the explosion occurred in Tell Brak near the Amar silos, about 35 kilometers from al-Hasakah city, with no casualties reported.

The cause of the explosion remains unknown, and the SDF media center has not published details about the incident so far.

Turkish warnings and calls to disarm

During his meeting with Syria’s transitional president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Doha on the sidelines of the “Extraordinary Arab Islamic Summit” on September 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his country is “following the steps bringing together different components in Syria,” stressing the importance of Syria’s territorial unity and the need for the SDF to adhere to the March 10 agreement with Damascus.

According to a senior Syrian official who spoke to Reuters on Monday, Ankara has begun to lose patience with delays and informed Damascus it is ready to support any military action against the SDF, which Turkey considers an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara.

The official told Reuters that Damascus asked Ankara to postpone any attack to allow negotiations to continue. “The deadline is basically until the end of the year,” the official said, adding that “Damascus believes Trump has given Turkey leeway to resolve the Kurdish security issue.”

In a September 13 interview with the state-run Syrian News Channel, al-Sharaa said negotiations with the SDF had made progress, but there was a degree of obstruction or slowdown in implementing the agreement.

He noted the agreement with the SDF set a timeline through the end of the year, and that Damascus had sought to implement its provisions by late December. Al-Sharaa said he had done everything to spare the SDF-controlled areas of northeastern Syria from entering a battle or war, adding that the government agreed to integrate the SDF into the Syrian army and that both sides reached understandings on certain specificities for Kurdish-majority areas.

On October 11, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler called on the PKK and its offshoots, particularly in Syria, to cease what he described as “terrorist activities,” saying all its extensions operating under different names and in multiple regions, especially Syria, must surrender their weapons immediately and unconditionally.

Do Turkish threats hinder integration?

The SDF said Turkey’s repeated threats hinder a solution in Syria and do not serve the integration of its forces into the new Syrian army.

Roghalat Afrin, a senior SDF commander and the head of the Women’s Protection Units (the SDF’s most prominent female formation), said her forces aim to be the backbone of the anticipated army after defeating the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria.

In remarks to Al Arabiya Net published on September 16, responding to the threats and what she called “Turkish interference in Syrian affairs,” she said, “We have sought and continue to seek peace with neighboring countries, especially Turkey, but its repeated threats hinder a solution and do not serve the integration of our forces or Syria’s unity.”