The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out a large-scale raid campaign from Friday midnight until Saturday morning in the town of Gharanij in the al-Shaitat area in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria. The raids also targeted parts of the town of al-Kashkiya, amid escalating tensions in the area.
A local source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the SDF arrested dozens of civilians and assaulted an elderly man and his wife. Its members also broke doors and belongings in homes and terrorized residents.
The source explained that the raids included the al-Maharij and al-Saleh al-Ali neighborhoods adjacent to the Euphrates River, in addition to the Shaiban neighborhood. SDF military reinforcements also arrived in the al-Shaitat area, effectively besieging it, amid growing fears among residents that the campaign against civilians will continue.
For its part, the SDF announced in a statement published on its official website that the Deir ez-Zor Military Council forces had "liberated four of its fighters after they were kidnapped by a cell suspected of links to ISIS while they were receiving medical treatment at a health center in the town of Gharanij last Wednesday." The SDF confirmed that the security operation "will continue until the complete elimination of the terrorist cell," as it put it.
In a previous statement, the SDF said on Thursday that "a group of four fighters was subjected to a terrorist attack on Wednesday evening while they were receiving medical treatment at a pharmacy in Gharanij." The SDF noted that it had carried out a military operation that resulted in the death of one of the kidnappers and the injury of three others, vowing that "any attack on its members or residents will not go unpunished."
In another development, a SDF intelligence commander named Dajwar, a PKK commander, was wounded by an unknown drone strike in the city of Tabqa in the western Raqqa countryside, northeastern Syria, according to informed sources who spoke to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
An SDF member was also killed and two others seriously injured following an infiltration attempt against Syrian Army positions on the axis of the village of Al-Yabu Hamad, east of Raqqa. Earlier on Tuesday, a Syrian Army soldier was killed during two infiltration attempts by SDF members on the Tal Maaz axis in the Manbij countryside, east of Aleppo.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense considered this escalation to coincide with the SDF targeting of army positions in the Manbij and Deir Hafer areas in the Aleppo countryside, and the closure of some roads to residents in a "violation of the understandings reached with the Syrian government."
Local news networks reported that clashes with medium and heavy weapons erupted Wednesday evening between the two sides, following the SDF targeting an army military post in the city of Deir ez-Zor.
On March 10, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, signed an agreement to integrate all civilian and military institutions affiliated with the Kurdish Autonomous Administration into the Syrian state.
The Syrian presidency published a statement signed by al-Sharaa and Abdi, stating that it was agreed to "integrate all civilian and military institutions in northeastern Syria into the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the airport, and oil and gas fields."
The New Arab, Zaman Al Wasl
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