Thousands of refugee families in Lebanon and Turkey return home in eastern Deir ez-Zor
Deir ez-Zor – North-Press Agency
Jindar Abdelqader
Ghassan al-Youssef, the co-chair of Deir ez-Zor Civil Council, said on Monday that thousands of families from the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, who had sought refuge in Turkey and Lebanon, at the beginning of the Syrian crisis, have returned to their areas due to the return of stability into the region.
Al-Youssef added in a statement to North-Press that local, regional and international parties are trying to exploit the popular demands in favor of their ambitions and to destabilize security and stability in the region. He explained that the Civil Administration of Deir ez-Zor has a clear strategy for the services sector and the restoration and rebuilding of infrastructure for the entire countryside of Deir ez-Zor al-Sharqi, indicating that the area is about 16 thousand square kilometers.
Over the past few months, residents in several towns in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor have staged demonstrations demanding the Autonomous Administration of northeastern Syria to improve the living conditions and services and enable the infrastructure for the region, which has been devastated by the years of war against the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS).
Al-Youssef stated that in the next few days, electricity will be delivered to al-Shuhail power station to distribute electricity for the eastern countryside, and the operation of irrigation and water stations for long hours.
Al-Youssef pointed out that ISIS cells target the infrastructure of the region and undermine security by targeting the civil and security employees and workers, explaining that the officials of the Civil Administration and the elders in Deir ez-Zor countryside have called on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Internal Security Forces to carry out security operations to pursue the ISIS sleeper cells, which led to the detention of some ISIS members and the seizure of large quantities of weaponry in Deir ez-Zor countryside.
During the past months, the Syrian Democratic Forces launched several campaigns and security operations against the Islamic State sleeper cells in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor and near the Syrian-Iraqi borders. These campaigns and operations resulted in the arrest of dozens of suspected ISIS members, in addition to killing a number of others while trying to resist the security forces, among them prominent ISIS leaders.
On March 23 of last year, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in all areas in East of Euphrates, after the battle of al-Baghouz, the last stronghold of ISIS in the region.