Several parties aim to stir up chaos in Deir ez-Zor, NE Syria – notable tribal leader
(North Press) – The co-chair of the Hajin town council, Saleh al-Smail al-Salman, said on Thursday that recent assassinations of tribal figures, prominent military leaders, soldiers, and civilians in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor aims to create chaos and confusion for the benefit of parties outside the northeastern regions of Syria.
In an exclusive statement to North-Press, al-Salman said that there are sleeper cells trying to disperse what was built with the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor a year and a half ago.
A report published by RT last week denied the authenticity of several statements attributed to the Akidat tribe in Syria, in which the tribe demanded the Global Coalition and the SDF hand over those responsible for the killing of one of its elders in Deir ez-Zor, and threatened to “take revenge."
Al-Salman, who is one of the seniors of the al-Ubaid clan, a branch of Albo-Hardan tribe, added that since the expulsion of ISIS from the town of Hajin, work has been done to arrange the area so that people can come back to their houses and secure their needs in cooperation with the Autonomous Administration and the Global Coalition.
He called on the Global Coalition to take a serious stand with the SDF, the Autonomous Administration, and residents of the region to face security implications, as the attack launched by the sleeper cells from outside the region creats chaos and wants to send a political message that the administration, the SDF and the Coalition cannot manage the region.
The leader of the Deir ez-Zor Military Council, Ahmed al-Khebeel (known as Abu Khawla al-Dairi), told North Press after an armed attack on SDF points that the Syrian government and Iranian militias have been working for a while to "stir up discord and confusion" in the towns of Deir ez-Zor by recruiting people to work for them and move across the Euphrates to the side under government control.
He added that ISIS sleeper cells, groups close to the Syrian government and Iranian militias, joined demonstrators and shot SDF fighters in the town of Hawayej and planted land mines in the nearby village of Thiban.
On Tuesday, SDF posts were targeted by unknown gunmen in the town of Hawayej, eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, while the SDF launched a campaign to track down ISIS sleeper cells and cells of unnamed entities.