An SDF patrol was hit by Iran-backed forces in the town of Suwaydan with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and machine guns, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
One member of the SDF was killed and another was injured, according to SOHR.
The SDF, as the partnered ground force of the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), controls northeast Syria (Rojava).
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.
Clashes broke out between the SDF and pro-regime forces in Deir ez-Zor on Friday, SOHR reported without providing information on casualties.
