SDF brings reinforcements to Deir ez-Zor after renewed clashes

Damascus-backed insurgent groups have continued to attack SDF forces in Deir ez-Zor since August.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2023/11/27 23:06

A US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter stands next to an armored vehicle, at al-Sabha town in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, Syria, Sept. 4, 2023. (Photo: Baderkhan Ahmad/ AP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday brought reinforcements to Deir ez-Zor after increased clashes in the region and new threats by tribal gunmen to carry out new attacks.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the SDF brought in a convoy of 57 vehicles to the villages of Al-Bahrah, Al-Basyrah and Al-Shuhayl in eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside to strengthen their military posts there.

On Sunday, armed clashes erupted in Deir ez-Zor between local gunmen and the SDF in the city’s countryside.

Damascus-backed insurgent groups have continued to attack SDF forces in Deir ez-Zor since August, after the SDF arrested Abu Khawla, the former dismissed head of the Deir ez-Zor Military Council, leading to skirmishes between the SDF and rival forces.

Tribal leader Sheikh Ibrahim al-Hifl, the self-proclaimed Commander-in-Chief of the tribal forces, has pledged to persist in attacks against SDF forces. The SDF alleges that al-Hifl is supported by Damascus, which his supporters have denied.

On Sunday, the pro-Syrian government page, The Sons of Jazira and Euphrates Movement, published a video of Sheikh Ibrahim Hifl with armed men, promising that he would return to his guest house in Dhiban, which is under SDF control.