Civilians fled a city in northeastern Syria where government warplanes bombed Kurdish-held areas for a second day on Friday, as the Syrian army accused Kurdish forces of igniting the conflict by trying to take over the area.
The fighting this week in Hasaka, which is divided into zones of Kurdish and Syrian government control, marks the most violent confrontation between the Kurdish YPG militia and Damascus in more than five years of civil war.
The YPG is at the heart of a U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State in Syria, and controls swathes of the north where Kurdish groups have set up their own government since the Syrian war began in 2011.
A Pentagon official said U.S.-led coalition aircraft were sent near Hasaka on Thursday to protect coalition special operation ground forces in response to bombing by Syrian jets, and additional combat air patrols were being sent to the area.
The government air strikes on Hasaka mark the first time the Syrian military has deployed its warplanes against Kurdish groups during the war.
YPG spokesman Redur Xelil told Reuters that Kurdish authorities had evacuated thousands of civilians from their area of control. "Whoever can bear arms is fighting the regime and its gangs," Xelil said. "Our situation is so far defensive but it will change all the while the regime escalates in this way."
