On January 22 evening, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and other Kurdish militias recaptured Birsaya Mount from the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) after a rapid counter-attack, according to pro-Kurdish sources.
The FSA supported by units of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) captured the mount in the morning. However, Ankara’s proxies were not able to consoldidate their gains and retreated from the area.
Pro-FSA sources argue that the FSA retreated from Birsaya Mount in order to avoid some “night ambush”. However, other sources say that the FSA just abandoned its forward positions after YPG/YPJ shelled them with artillery and launched a counter-attack.
Currently, the strategic mount remains contested. On January 23, the FSA, backed by the TAF, will likely make another attempt to establish control over it.