ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday accused Damascus-affiliated militants of attempting to infiltrate their positions near northern Syria’s crucial Tishrin Dam, saying one of the attackers was killed and the ambush was foiled. 

“A group of militants affiliated with the Damascus government attempted to infiltrate one of our positions in the countryside of the Tishreen Dam area, using hand grenades to target our fighters and destabilize the region,” the SDF said in a statement.

The SDF added that its forces “immediately engaged the attacking group,” leading to clashes that left one assailant dead. 

Syria’s defense ministry, however, blamed the SDF for the attack, saying that the Kurdish-led force "targeted Syrian Arab Army positions around the Tishrin Dam east of Aleppo, killing one soldier and wounding others."

The latest clash follows a major armed escalation that erupted between Damascus-aligned forces and Kurdish-led internal security forces (Asayish) in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods on Monday. A day later, the SDF and Damascus reached a ceasefire.

Tensions surged between the Kurdish-led force and Damascus-affiliated fighters in northern and eastern Syria late last month, with both sides trading blame for the clashes. The fighting is threatening to derail a landmark integration deal signed in March between the two sides. 

The March deal, signed between interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi, stipulates the integration of the SDF and institutions in the Kurdish-held northeast into the Syrian state.

The US-backed SDF functions as the de facto army of northeast Syria and played a key role in the territorial defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria in 2019.

Kurds and other minorities in Syria have called for decentralized governance, a request Damascus has firmly rejected.