Dozens Killed Or Wounded In Attack By Tribal Fighters On SDF In Syria’s Deir Ezzor

from thefreeonline on 28th Sept 2023 by SouthFront

Tribal fighters attacked the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor on September 25, confirming that the Arab armed uprising against the Kurdish-led group which began last month is still ongoing.

The attack targeted the key town of Diban, which is located on the western bank of the Euphrates River in the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside.

Sheikh Ibrahim al-Hafel, a prominent figure of the influential Al Uqaydat tribe who rose to become the leader of the Arab armed uprising in Deir Ezzor, announced the beginning of the attack in a voice message that was shared on social media, calling for a “popular mobilization” against the SDF.

In the first few hours of the attacks, tribal fighters managed to enter Diban and nearby areas after capturing several checkpoints and positions of the SDF.

The group alleged in an initial statement that the attack was launched from the government-held eastern Euphrates bank and that tribal fighters received artillery support from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). These claims were backed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based pro-opposition monitoring group.

Clashes in Diban came to an end on September 26 with the SDF announcing that it had repelled the attack of the “Syrian regime mercenaries”.

In a statement, the group said that 20 of tribal fighters were killed and 31 others were wounded during the battle. It also claimed that some of the wounded were evacuated to government hospitals on the eastern Euphrates bank.

From its side, the SOHR said that the battle claimed the lives of 21 tribal fighters and three others from the SDF. According to the monitoring group, 26 tribal fighters, 12 from the SDF and four civilians were also wounded.

Despite the reports of the SAA involvement, the United State-led coalition, which maintains two bases at the Conoco gas plant in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside and al-Omar oil fields in the southern countryside of the governorate, didn’t intervene in the clashes.

The armed uprising in Deir Ezzor broke out on August 27 after the SDF arrested Rashid Abu Khawla, the leader of its largest Arab faction, the Deir Ezzor Military Council, and launched a crackdown in the governorate with support from the coalition.

While the arrest of Abu Khawala, a former ISIS leader who was known for his criminal activities, was the direct cause of the uprising, tensions between the Arab population in Deir Ezzor and the SDF have been mounting for years as the group worked to expand Kurdish influence in the historically Arab governorate.

The latest attack on Diban, which was more of a large-scale raid, affirmed that the armed uprising is still ongoing. The SDF has clearly failed to end the uprising with military means and its efforts to calm down the Arab population in Deir Ezzor have been also unsuccessful. The support of the government for the uprising, if confirmed, will pose a serious challenge to the U.S.-led coalition, which does not appear to be interested in a conflict with Arab tribes.

On September 6, the SDF had managed to regain the key town of Diban in the southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, the stronghold of Sheikh al-Hafel. However, the tribal leader was not arrested and clashes continued near the town and in other parts of the governorate.

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from thefreeonline

Both Turkish and SAA forces have been trying by all means for years to foment a war between the SDF and the Arab Tribes in Deir Ez Zor. As a multicultural and multi religion coalition the Kurdish led SDF was able to police the area with mainly Arab forces, but the tribal leader Rashid Abu Khawla, who headed the Military Council, became notoriously corrupt and his removal was the signal for the Turkish and SAA supported uprising to begin, spreading to attacks by Turkish controlled mercenaries from the Idlib, Afrin, Tell Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn occupations.

Most reports about NE Syria carry the false refrain that the SDF (AANES) are PKK and that they are terrorists. (The PKK did wage a terrorist resistance against Turkey 25 years ago but since have reformed and held two long ceasefires broken by Turkey- yet the PKK is still labelled as terrorist by the US to placate Turkey and for political reasons)..

Most reports also refrain that the SDF federation defending the Autonomous Administration (AANES) are stealing Syrian Oil, in league with their US protectors. This is partly true, going back to Trump’s assertion that the US would occupy to grab the oil. The Conoco oil well in Deir Ez Zor is clearly a US asset. But the efforts of a US company to organise a concerted extraction failed and the company fell apart.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters ride atop military vehicles as they celebrate victory in Raqqa, Syria, October 17, 2017.

SDF fighters have always indicated their wish to escape US control under the anti ISIS coalition, and unite with Damascus forces as autonomous units, especially as Syria is more accepted internationally and the US isolated in its cruel CAESAR Sanctions campaign and increasing air provocations.

In the far NE Hasakah the oil wells are run by a small AANES/SDF backed company , producing for local use and selling to Damascus and Idlib . And why not? NE Syria remains blockaded and receives nothing from the central government.

3rd July 2022. Jihadi and ex Al Qaeda militias, in the pay of Turkey’s Erdogan, queue up on the border of Rojava, competing as they await the order to loot, kill rape and ethnically cleanse a fourth section of NE Syria.

However the constitutions of Syria and AANES seem totally at odds, especially on women’s, minorities, cultural, language, religious and decentralisation rights.

The 2 million people in the revolutionary AANES area are forced to depend on the US which despises them, while their sworn Turkish, Irani, ISIS, Iraqi and Arab enemies ‘sharpen their knives’ and await their opportunity, and Russia is even more dependant on placating Turkey.

Author: thefreeonline

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