6 US-backed SDF militants killed in drone attack on al-Omar base

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
5 Feb 2024 14:49

The drone attack has allegedly originated from areas under the control of the Syrian army.

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militants stand guard on a street at al-Baseera town, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, Syria, Sept. 4. 2023. (AP)

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the death of six of its militants as a result of a drone attack allegedly originating from areas under the control of the Syrian army.

On Monday, the SDF reported that the drone strike targeted a training facility at the US occupation base in al-Omar oil field in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

This comes shortly after intense clashes broke out, on January 30, between the Turkish-backed "National Army" militants and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces following an attempt by the SDF to infiltrate from the axes of the villages of Jableh and Qimmar, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, coinciding with mutual artillery shelling.

At the time, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that SDF rocket shells fell in the vicinity of the Kuwait al-Rahma Camp in the countryside of Afrin in northern Aleppo.

He added that the SDF militants fired rockets at the Turkish military base in the vicinity of the village of Anab in the northern countryside of Aleppo in retaliation to the Turkish artillery shelling of SDF positions in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

Turkish-backed SNA clash with US-backed SDF in northern Syria

Clashes between the two insurgent groups in northern Syria have been recurrently erupting. Back in September, violent clashes erupted in the western outskirts of Manbij in the countryside of Aleppo.

SNA militia members were making a concerted effort to advance in the direction of Em Adasa village in western Manbij, which was met with a barrage of heavy artillery and rocket fire from the SDF that were then reciprocated.

The battle in September came on the heels of Russian airstrikes, targeting five positions that the SNA militants had previously occupied in a village in eastern Aleppo. These areas have been under the control of the US-backed SDF, while the Russian military, in coordination with the Syrian government, is actively working to thwart the expansion of the SNA in northern Syria.

The strikes came after days-long clashes between the so-called "National Army" and SDF on the Manbij front.

Syrian tribes launch offensive against the SDF

Back in October last year, tribal fighters in Syria's east launched a large-scale offensive in the Deir Ezzor countryside as part of their effort to take control over the SDF-controlled areas in the region.

Tribal fighters waged discrete attacks on areas controlled by the SDF after the latter initiated a battle called "Enhancing Security and Safety" in Deir Ezzor. During this battle, they arrested all the members of the Deir Ezzor Military Council affiliated with the SDF, accusing them of corruption and collusion with hostile forces.

Tribal members took control of the entire eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor at the beginning of September before the SDF regained control after mobilizing a large number of forces in the area.

Tribal fighters accuse the Kurdish leaders of the SDF of monopolizing military and administrative rule in the region, as well as preventing the residents of the region from managing their own areas while looting and plundering its resources.

The SDF took control of the entire countryside of Deir Ezzor, located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, after capturing the town of Baghuz, the last stronghold of ISIS in Syria, in February 2019. They established a "civil and military administration" to administrate the region amidst accusations that it is merely a symbolic administration and that it is the Kurdish elements within the SDF who actually run the region.

The chief of the Akidat tribe in Syria, Ibrahim al-Hifl, announced last September the start of a "new battle" by Arab tribes against the SDF forces, calling for a general mobilization in the countryside of Deir Ezzor to support the engaged tribal forces.