ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Monday it carried out an attack on regime forces and pro-regime groups in Deir ez-Zor in retaliation for recent attacks on the SDF positions in the province. Twenty fighters were killed in the attack. The SDF said in a statement that its military council in Deir ez-Zor “conducted a large-scale retaliatory operation, targeting three positions of the regime and its mercenaries on the western bank of the Euphrates River.” It added that 18 members of regime forces and two mercenaries were killed in the attack. Several others were injured as well. On Wednesday, pro-regime National Defense Forces launched an overnight attack on the SDF in the province. Fighting between both sides has continued since then. Many civilians, mostly children, have been killed in the attacks by the pro-regime forces. Pro-regime fighters frequently clash with the SDF in the strategic province. Following Wednesday’s attack, SDF-linked security forces in Deir ez-Zor announced a total curfew. 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.
