Arab tribes battle US-backed PKK/YPG terrorist group in eastern Syria

By Esref Musa

DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (AA) – Clashes between Arab tribes and the PKK/YPG terrorist organization broke out Sunday at many points in eastern Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province.

PKK/YPG terrorists supported by the US detained many local residents in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor on Saturday, according to information obtained from local sources.

Arab tribes in turn targeted the local headquarters of the terrorist organization in the villages of Dhiban, Shuheyl, al-Jurthi and Abu Hardoub in the east with heavy weapons after midnight.

The clashes spread to the villages of Al-Shakikah and Abu Hamam in the southeast of the province in the morning hours.

While many terrorists surrendered to Arab tribesmen with their weapons in the village of Abu Hardoub, the Arabs shot down a drone in al-Jurthi.

In a mortar attack carried out by PKK/YPG terrorists on Abu Hardoub, four civilians were killed and three others were injured.

Arab tribes carried out two operations against the terror group on Aug. 27 and Sept. 25 and were able to clear about 33 villages of terrorists in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Al-Hasakah and areas in Manbij and Aleppo.

The tribal forces, however, later withdrew from the villages to prevent civilian casualties from YPG/PKK attacks and agreed to negotiate with US forces, who served as mediators in the region.

On Oct.11 however, after Ibrahim al-Hafil, the leader of the Akidat tribe who is leading the Arab tribes’ uprising against the PKK/YPG terrorists, expressed their readiness for a new uprising, clashes broke out for a short time.

In the villages of Direnc, al-Gharanij, Abu Nteyl, Al-Sur, Havayic, Suheyl and Al-Jasmi, where clashes took place, vehicles belonging to the terrorist organization and their headquarters were targeted with heavy weapons.

After the withdrawal of Daesh/ISIS in November 2017, Deir ez-Zor city and its western parts came under the control of the Syrian regime with the support of Iran-backed groups and Russia.

Iran-backed foreign terrorist groups have a significant presence in Deir ez-Zor, becoming a formidable ground force for the Syrian regime.

Members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command groups of fighters of Iranian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Afghan and Pakistani origin in Deir ez-Zor, which is home to Sunni Arab communities.

The territory of Deir ez-Zor east of the Euphrates River is under the control of the US-backed PKK/YPG terrorist organization.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan