“Yesterday evening, a group of four fighters from the Deir ez-Zor Military Council, who were on a non-military mission outside their official duties to receive treatment … were subjected to a terrorist operation by a group likely affiliated with the terrorist organization ISIS,” the SDF’s Deir ez-Zor Military Council said in a statement.
A counter-operation was launched by the council, which led to the “killing of one armed kidnapper and wounding three others,” according to the statement.
An “immediate and comprehensive investigation” was launched into the incident.
The Deir ez-Zor Military Council is a local force affiliated with the SDF that is responsible for security in the SDF-held areas of the Arab-majority province. It has played a key role in the US-led force’s military operations against ISIS in Syria.
The Kurdish-led and US-backed SDF, the de facto army of northeast Syria (Rojava), has carried out numerous operations this year to counter what they say is a resurgence in ISIS activity, targeting both their forces and civilians.
ISIS rose to power and seized swathes of Iraqi and Syrian land in a brazen offensive in 2014, declaring a so-called “caliphate.” The SDF defeated the group in Syria in 2019 with the help of the US-led global coalition against ISIS.
