Clashes that broke out about ten days ago between the US-backed, Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and a local militia in Deir Ezzor province in north-eastern Syria are worrying Washington, which It has 900 soldiers deployed there and fears cracks in the coalition that has kept the defeated Islamic State (IS) in check for years.
The clashes have left at least 90 dead, most of them combatants, in this strategic region, according to a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). The trigger was the August 27 arrest by the SDF of Ahmad al Jabil, head of the Deir Ezzor Military Council, a local armed Arab group that is affiliated with Kurdish forces.
The detained leader was charged with criminal activity, corruption and opening contacts with the Damascus government and Iranian-backed militias. Al Jabil supporters responded with attacks and were joined by Arab tribesmen. According to the Kurds, there are also fighters loyal to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, who crossed the river.
A Kurdish-led, US-backed administration has ruled parts of northern Syria and most of Syria east of the Euphrates, including key oil fields, with government forces and Iranian-backed militias positioned just across from it. the western shore. The SDF led the offensive that defeated IS in Syria in 2019.
Kurdish leaders accuse Tehran-backed militias and the Syrian government of fomenting violence. "Iran and the Assad regime want to represent this unrest as a result of an ethnic conflict between Arabs and Kurds," Elham Ahmad, leader of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the SDF, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). His ultimate goal, according to the leader, is to force the US troops to withdraw.
But some warn that the violence reflects local Arab unrest. Arabs in the region serve in roles in both the SDF and the Administration, but have long resented Kurdish control. “This is an unprecedented escalation between the SDF and the residents of Deir Ezzor,” says Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who runs the Deir Ezzor 24 outlet, which specializes in the region. "It is an indication of the bad policy implemented by the SDF and the miscalculations of the Americans," he concludes.
The US military mediates between the parties and has called for an end to the fighting, warning that "distractions (from fighting IS) create instability and increase the risk of a resurgence of Daesh."
Kurdish-dominated forces announced yesterday "the end of military operations" in eastern Syria, after seizing control of Diban. They claimed that the gunmen who had taken up positions in the village fled "to areas under the control of the (Syrian) regime from where they had previously come."
“The operation to clear the city of Diban of armed groups has reached its final phase. The SDF have started combing the neighborhoods in search of hidden fighters,” the SDF reported.
