The SDF, commanded by Kurds, claims to have engaged in combat with government forces in northern Syria

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced Monday that its soldiers had engaged in combat with government forces in the northern Aleppo region, the most recent event to cloud a historic merger agreement they reached in March.

In the conflict that overthrew Islamic State in 2019 after the group proclaimed a caliphate over large portions of Syria and Iraq, the SDF was the primary military force supported by the United States in Syria.

After former President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December, the SDF joined Syria’s state institutions in March by signing an agreement with the country’s new Islamist-led administration in Damascus.

Kurdish-led troops that control a quarter of Syria were to combine with Damascus, along with regional Kurdish governance organizations, as part of the agreement to rebuild a nation torn apart by 14 years of conflict.

Four of the SDF’s stations in Dayr Hafir were attacked by government forces, the group reported on Monday.

“We hold the Damascus government fully responsible for this behaviour, and reaffirm that our forces are now more prepared than ever to exercise their legitimate right to respond with full force and determination,” the Syrian Democratic Forces stated in a statement.

Over the weekend, the Syrian Defense Ministry accused the SDF of launching a rocket attack at an army outpost in the countryside in the adjacent city of Manbij, sparking a blame-sharing dispute between the government and SDF. According to the SDF, it had reacted to an unjustified artillery attack on civilians.