Security

Syrian government sends groups to attack SDF in Deir ez-Zor: SDF

“Our forces are taking additional measures to pursue armed groups that infiltrated villages in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2023/09/01 02:23

A banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is flown in northeastern Syria (Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)

Syria Deir ez-Zor SDF Syrian government regime

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday accused the Syrian government of sending groups to attack the SDF in Deir ez-Zor.

“Our forces are taking additional measures to pursue armed groups that infiltrated villages in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor coming from the west bank of the Euphrates River,” the SDF said.

“These groups began mobilizing to attack our forces positioned in the eastern countryside. Yesterday evening, supplies were sent from security agencies affiliated with the Syrian regime in an attempt to cause civil strife that serves their agendas of pressure and threatening the notables of the region.”

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

The SDF called on everyone “not to be drawn into the voices calling for sedition.”

Since Aug. 27, heavy clashes broke out between the SDF and Arab tribes in Deir ez-Zor, after the SDF arrested and dismissed Abu Khawla, the head of the Deir ez-Zor Military Council.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that so far 45 people were killed in the clashes, including five civilians.

It also confirmed that eight members of cells affiliated to “regime forces survived clashes (with the SDF) in Jadid Bakarah, after having sustained various injuries, and they managed to reach the military hospital in Deir ez-Zor city for medical treatment.”

The DeirEzzor24 network also reported that local members of the Nawaf al-Bashir militia, which in turn is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), entered the Al-Kasra district in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor.

The sources said that other members of Air Force Intelligence and the National Defense Militia entered the town of Dhiban, east of Deir ez-Zor.

Syria's official state news agency SANA also called the SDF ‘separatist militias’ that was engaging in fierce infighting in Deir ez-Zor with the Deir Ezzor Military Council.