By Malin Muhammad
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and families of the Shaitat tribe commemorated on Friday the 11th anniversary of the “Shaitat Massacre” perpetrated by the Islamic State (ISIS) in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor in 2014, which claimed hundreds of lives and forced the displacement of tens of thousands.
The annual remembrance is held on August 15, but this year’s planned gathering was postponed due to recent military developments in the area, a North Press correspondent reported.
In August 2014, ISIS militants carried out a large-scale killing in the town of Granij and surrounding villages in the Shaitat tribal area. Over three days, at least 850 members of the tribe were executed, according to local accounts, with survivors facing continued persecution.
In the summer of 2015, ISIS decreed the execution of every Shaitat male over the age of 14, alongside the confiscation of tribal lands and homes, and the enslavement of women. The group’s campaign aimed to punish the tribe for resisting its rule in the region.
While exact figures remain unverified due to the chaos of the conflict, estimates from The Independent, the Violations Documentation Center in North Syria, and mass grave inspections suggest at least 700 people were killed in just two days — August 8 and 9, 2014. However, many surviving tribe members maintain that the death toll exceeds 1,700, including men, women, and children, with around 150,000 people displaced from the area.
In recent years, mass graves linked to the massacre have been uncovered in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, including one in the village of Jamma, containing some of the victims’ remains.
Local officials stress that the memory of the massacre underscores the importance of ongoing security and counterterrorism measures in the region, which remain a focus for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the AANES in the face of continued ISIS threats.