Deir al-Zor Military Council intensifies patrols to prevent smuggling during Eid

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In a regular meeting on Thursday, the Deir al-Zor Military Council said it will intensify patrols to stop smuggling by the Syrian government.

The council linked to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) discussed the obstacles it faced in “maintaining security and stability, in addition to the threats of the cells of ISIS and Iranian militia and Syrian regime.”

“The meeting set an action plan for the current and future stage to avoid the security problems in the region to protect it and ensure its security,” the SDF said. 

“The meeting ordered the forces to run intensive and round-the-clock patrols during the Eid days and on the border crossings that links Syrian regime areas to our Autonomous Administration areas to prevent the smuggling phenomenon.”

Muslims will celebrate the end of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan with Eid al-Fitr on the upcoming Monday.

The east bank of the Euphrates river in Deir al-Zor is controlled by the SDF forces while the west bank is controlled by the Syrian government and its allies.

The SDF regularly stops smuggling from border crossing areas linked to the Syrian government, sometimes clashing with the smugglers.

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Moreover, SDF officials say that Iran, Turkey, and the Syrian government are trying to push tribes in Deir al-Zor, South of Hasakah and Raqqa, to rise against the SDF.

As a result, they claim that most of these sleeper cells that are carrying out attacks are linked to the Syrian regime, Iran, or the Islamic State.