Unidentified gunmen attack SDF checkpoint in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Unidentified gunmen targeted on Tuesday a military checkpoint of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the town of eastern Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, with automatic weapons.
“Unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle fired machine guns at al-Attal checkpoint of the SDF at the western entrance to the town of Shuhail, east of Deir ez-Zor,” a military source in the SDF told North Press.
“The attack caused no casualties and the attackers managed to flee outside the town after the incident,” the source added.
Recently, despite intensified security procedures taken by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the countryside of Deir ez-Zor has witnessed an increase in killing cases against SDF members, employees of Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), tribal leaders and civilians.
The countryside of Deir ez-Zor was an ISIS enclave which was liberated in 2019 by the SDF and the US-led Global Coalition. After that, a civil autonomous administration was formed to run the affairs of the region. This civil administration is affiliated with the AANES.
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily.
On July 1 the SDF announced the outcome of its operations against ISIS cells last June, confirming the arrest of 17 people, most of whom were ISIS leaders.
On June 3, ISIS Amaq News Agency said that ISIS militants targeted an SDF military vehicle on al-Omar oil field road near the town of al-Shuhail, east of Deir ez-Zor, damaging the vehicle and killing the SDF members inside it.
However, a military source in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied that they had been attacked by ISIS cells in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.