ISIS-suspected attack kills 6 SDF fighters in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Unknown attackers, believed to be members of the Islamic State (ISIS), shot dead on Sunday six fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on al-Khourafi road, which connects Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah Governorates.
A military source of the SDF told North Press, “Unidentified gunmen, likely affiliated with ISIS, shot and killed six SDF members while they were heading to the city of Hasakah to spend their furlough.”
The members were serving in the SDF-affiliated Self-Defense Forces (compulsory service), the source added, noting that they hailed from the city of Hasakah and the countryside of Aleppo.
ISIS is intensifying its operations against the SDF, and is hiding in small groups in the Deir ez-Zor desert, he noted.
The countryside of Deir ez-Zor witnesses repeated assassinations, targeting SDF fighters, employees of the Autonomous Administration, tribal leaders and civilians, despite the intensive security operations launched by the SDF.
Since the beginning of 2022, ISIS has claimed 128 operations against the SDF, most of them in Deir ez-Zor.
Earlier on Sunday, unidentified gunmen killed an SDF fighter and injured another in the town of Jazrat al-Milaj, west of Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria.