Government shelling kills 3, injures others in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Syrian government forces, stationed in the west of the Euphrates River, targeted on Saturday the town of Hajin in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria with mortars, killing two women and a child and injuring others.
Ali al-Manif, a local from Hajin, said that the government forces and affiliated armed groups stationed in al-Salihiya Mount in the town of al-Majawda hit a house with two mortars in Salah neighborhood in western Hajin.
He told North Press that the attack caused the killing of Fatima al-Salih, 25, and Samya al-Loha, 40, and Ahmad al-Manif, 11, in addition to the amputation of the legs of an elderly man and the injury of 12 others.
Al-Manif noted that the injured were taken to the Public Hospital in Hajin and were “in an extremely critical condition,” which might lead to increasing the number of fatalities.
A military source within the government forces told North Press that the mortars were launched from the posts of the National Defense Forces (NDF) and the Usud al-Sharqiya militia affiliated with Iranian-backed militias in the town of al-Majawda in the west of the Euphrates River.
On Aug. 27, the SDF launched a military operation called “Security Reinforcement” with the support of the US-led Global Coalition on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, specifically in Deir ez-Zor, “to eradicate Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells, pursue criminals responsible for perpetrating injustices against the local population, and to track down smugglers who exploit the populace’s livelihoods.”
On Aug. 30, the SDF announced the dismissal of commander of Deir ez-Zor Military Council, Ahmad al-Khabil, known as Abu Khawla, from duty, for his involvement “in multiple crimes and violations, including communication and coordination with external entities hostile to the revolution, committing criminal offenses and engaging in drug trafficking, mismanaging of the security situation, his negative role in increasing the activities of ISIS cells,” according to the SDF.
The operation led to the eruption of clashes between the SDF and gunmen affiliated with the dismissed leader and with al-Bashir whose groups are active in the western bank of the Euphrates which is under the control of the Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militias.