Syrian sources announced the start of the Hasakah operation between 9:16 PM and 9:45 PM UTC on January 19, 2026, as Al-Sanadid Forces seized the Qalaa Regiment and Hamdan Regiment in Yarubiyah countryside northeast of Hasakah after expelling Kurdistan Workers’ Party militias, according to X posts by BarracudaVol1 and omar_alharir. Dozens of Syrian army tanks, BMP-1 armored combat vehicles, and Turkish-made BMC Amazon vehicles deployed on the Tel Tamr line during the 29-minute period, per BarracudaVol1 on X. Sounds of clashes were heard in Al-Hasakah city as local leaders moved to control decision-making centers and disengage, as reported by YamanAboTurki on X. A map showed Syrian Arab Army forces at the Panorama roundabout less than 5 km from Hasakah city center as of 00:00 UTC on January 20, according to NavvarSaban on X. Huge protests erupted in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, against attacks on Kurdish forces in northern Syria, with demonstrators climbing the wall of the new U.S. consulate and attempting to storm it, as stated by vvanwilgenburg and Osint613 on X. Peshmerga and Barzani forces deployed along the Iraq-Syria border from Habur to Yarubiyah, alongside Iraqi border guards, per BarracudaVol1 on X. The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces and 10th Badr Brigade deployed tanks near the border strip with Syria, according to NAYA posts on X. Syrian Presidential Advisor for Media Affairs Ahmed Muwafaq Zaidan told Al Arabiya of international consensus on extending state control, accused the SDF of blackmailing with ISIS prisons and terrorism, and stated that Kurds' demands are best met through Damascus, as posted by omar_alharir on X. Reuters reported Syrian government troops tightening grip on northern and eastern territory abandoned by Kurdish-led SDF, with new clashes and Islamic State militants escaping Shaddadi prison, which the army accused SDF of releasing while denying an attack on the facility. In Deir Ezzor province, officials recovered heavy equipment stolen by SDF during the regime's collapse and toured grain silos in former SDF areas to ensure production, according to QalaatAlMudiq on X. Chevron will take over the Omer oil field in Deir ez-Zor, per hakikatsizler on X.
