ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A civilian was killed on Sunday when a “terrorist cell” opened fire on a checkpoint manned by the Kurdish-led internal security forces (Asayish) in northeast Syria (Rojava), the force confirmed in a statement.
According to the Asayish, a “terrorist cell blocked the road ahead of civilians near one of our checkpoints in the town of Darnaj in eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside.” The assailants then “opened direct fire on our personnel while they were carrying out their security duties.”
“A civilian who was near the scene was injured and subsequently died,” the Kurdish-led forces noted, adding that their forces returned fire, prompting the attackers to flee. The statement further relayed that investigations are ongoing “to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and to pursue and hold the perpetrators accountable.”
The latest incident follows a recent uptick in attacks targeting Kurdish-led forces in Rojava and surrounding regions.
On Saturday, suspected Islamic State (ISIS) militants killed a school principal in a hit-and-run attack in Deir ez-Zor province. Earlier in the week, unidentified gunmen carried out two separate assaults on Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions, killing one fighter and injuring two others.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) recently reported that since the beginning of 2025, it has documented 126 ISIS operations in areas governed by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES). These attacks included armed assaults, targeted killings, and bombings, resulting in 51 deaths - including 34 SDF fighters, nine civilians, and eight ISIS members.
Serving as the de facto army in Rojava, the US-backed SDF was instrumental in defeating ISIS in 2019 and capturing thousands of the group’s fighters.
Both the Asayish and the SDF are also primarily responsible for securing the Roj and al-Hol camps in Rojava, which house thousands of individuals suspected of ISIS ties.
Since its defeat in 2019, ISIS has been trying to regain its strength, however, the group ramped up efforts after a coalition of opposition groups led by the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on December 8 toppled the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
SDF chief Mazloum Abdi has repeatedly warned of the growing threat posed by ISIS. In mid-January, he urged the “need to intensify efforts to continue the fight against ISIS if we don’t want to see it make a comeback.”
