US-backed SDF regain villages captured by Syrian regime forces

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sunday said they had conducted a counter-attack against Syrian regime forces who had temporarily gained control of a few villages east of the Euphrates River near the Iraq-Syria border.

The SDF, which the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) make a majority, said regime troops who briefly took control of some villages in oil-rich areas east of the Euphrates were driven “far away.”

“Our forces regained the initiative,” the SDF said in a statement carried by Reuters.

Reports circulating online said the pro-regime forces who are stationed west of the Euphrates advanced north of Deir al-Zor Province toward the villages of Junaynah and Maishiyah where they clashed with the US-backed forces.

The SDF statement did not mention whether or not US coalition forces participated in the offensive.

The US-led coalition, meanwhile, confirmed that the attack took place on Sunday morning.

“The coalition used established deconfliction channels to de-escalate the situation. The coalition remains committed to our SDF partners in the campaign to defeat” the Islamic State (IS), a statement by the Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve said.

The US military and its Kurdish-led allies control a large portion of eastern Syria which contains a majority of the country’s oil and gas reserves.

The SDF and regime forces had previously clashed in February where the US-led coalition launched airstrikes to repel the attack, killing over 100 pro-regime troops.

America has been backing the Kurdish-led SDF in the ongoing war against IS in Syria, providing arms and other forms of military assistance.