The military escalation between the Arab Tribal Forces supported by the Syrian regime forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) left 17 civilian casualties, according to a human rights report, in addition to a mass displacement from the areas of confrontations.
For seven days, the villages and towns along both banks of the Euphrates River in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor province have been witnessing military escalation between the two sides.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said today, Tuesday, August 13, that it documented the killing of at least 17 civilians, including eight children and six women, and the injury of at least 34 others, due to indiscriminate attacks with heavy weapons and gunfire in areas controlled by both sides.
The ground attacks by the regime forces caused two “massacres,” killing 11 civilians, including six children and four women, as a result of the shelling of the town of Dhahla east of Deir Ezzor, and killing a woman due to the shelling of the town of Abu Hamam.
The towns of Dhahla and Abu Hamam are within the geography controlled by the SDF east of the Euphrates River in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
The SNHR also said that similar attacks launched by the SDF on the town of al-Buleil, controlled by the regime forces, resulted in the killing of two civilians, a woman and a child, as well as the killing of three civilians, including a child, due to the exchange of gunfire and shelling between the two sides without the possibility of determining the party responsible for these attacks.
According to the SNHR, the escalation of military actions resulted in a movement of mass displacement of hundreds of civilians in areas controlled by both sides, as the villages and towns of Dhiban, Kashkiyeh, Abu Hamam, Basira, al-Zar, Sabha, Dhahla, and Jadid Bakara, located within the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, witnessed a large displacement due to artillery shelling by the regime forces and clashes near them.
On the other bank, the towns of al-Buleil, al-Tobe, Baqras, al-Dweir, and Kashma, located within the regime-controlled areas, witnessed displacement due to mortar shelling by the SDF.
The SNHR added that the waves of displacement concentrated in the areas located on both banks of the Euphrates River in the countryside of Deir Ezzor.
The SNHR confirmed that the two sides committed “undeniably” violations of several provisions of customary international law, specifically the failure to distinguish between civilians and combatants, which spreads terror among civilians and forces them into involuntary displacement.
The parties were urged to stop the escalation and indiscriminate attacks immediately, adhere to the protection of essential civilian infrastructure, especially water pumping stations, and ensure their operation to provide clean water to the population.
Deir Ezzor clashes
The clashes between the two sides began in the middle of last week, after an attack by regime forces supported by the National Defense and Arab Tribal Forces on the positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, causing large-scale displacement from the region.
The clashes extended until Monday, when regime forces shelled residential neighborhoods in the villages and towns of the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, where the SDF control, resulting in civilian casualties, following an attack by the latter on the regime forces’ positions on the western bank of the Euphrates River.
Enab Baladi’s reporter in Deir Ezzor reported that shelling began early this morning, targeting the towns of Dhahla, Sabha, Basira, Shahil, Abu Hamam, and Kashkiyeh in areas controlled by the SDF, causing injuries and material losses.
The SDF responded by shelling villages and towns controlled by regime forces in Baqras, al-Buleil, and Sebikhan without information on the extent of the damage that occurred there.
On Monday, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced that they targeted three regime force sites in Deir Ezzor province, killing 18 members and injuring others, in response to the recent attacks by the latter east of the province in recent days.