ISIS claims responsibility for killing SDF former member in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Islamic State Organization (ISIS) claims responsibility on Tuesday for killing a person on charges of working for Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) previously in a town east of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria.
The ISIS-run agency Amaq publicized a statement, saying that the ISIS militants killed a former SDF member in the town of Hawaij, 45km east of Deir ez-Zor.
The countryside of Deir ez-Zor was an ISIS enclave which was liberated in 2019 by the SDF and the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. After that, a civil autonomous administration was formed to run the affairs of the region. This civil administration is affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (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 the same day, a military source in the SDF told North Press that unknown gunmen stormed a football pitch in Hawaij and shot dead the 30-year-old footballer Ala’ al-Hamoud.
Al-Hamoud is a former member in the SDF, according to the source.
Recently, the countryside of Deir ez-Zor has witnessed an increase in killing cases carried out against the SDF fighters, tribal leaders, civilians, and employees of the Autonomous Administration though the SDF carries out intensive security operations.
On July 7, Amaq news agency publicized a statement, saying that ISIS militants targeted an SDF leader in the town of Abu Hardub, 80 kilometers east of Deir ez-Zor, with machineguns, wounding him, and later to succumb to his injuries.