The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based war monitor, reported that the Syrian regime forces and allied militia groups attacked SDF positions in the western Deir ez-Zor countryside, using mortar shells.
There is no immediate information on casualties on both sides.
The SDF, who control northeast Syria (Rojava), has been the main ally of the US-led global coalition in the war against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. The forces arrested thousands of the group’s fighters along with their wives and children when they defeated ISIS territorially and took the group’s last stronghold in Syria in 2019.
Control of Deir ez-Zor province, which borders Iraq, is now split between the SDF and the Iran-backed Syrian regime. It is also home to many of the country’s key oilfields, such as Omar and Conoco, which the global coalition helps the SDF to control.
The areas under the control of the Syrian regime and those under the control of the SDF are separated by the banks of the Euphrates River. The area is characterized by frequent smuggling operations, due to the difference in price of goods on either side.
Pro-regime fighters frequently clash with the SDF in the strategic province.
In August pro-regime National Defense Forces launched an overnight attack on the SDF in the province. Several civilians were killed in the attacks. Days later, the SDF carried out retaliatory attacks on the regime forces and pro-regime groups, killing 20 fighters.
