Military confrontations continued in eastern Deir Ezzor province between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and tribal factions supported by militias loyal to Iran and the Syrian regime, near the Euphrates River.

The SDF said on Facebook early Thursday, August 8, that they responded to “regime gunmen and National Defense mercenaries” who fired upon the village of Dahla in eastern Deir Ezzor province.

According to information obtained by Enab Baladi from a leader in the Internal Security Forces (Asayish), affiliated with the SDF, reinforcements including heavy weapons arrived from the cities of Qamishli and al-Hasakah to the area where the confrontations took place.

The SDF has mobilized an unspecified number of fighters in the area of al-Ma’amel, which is considered the military nerve center of Deir Ezzor since it is a military zone and hosts the civilian councils of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), the political umbrella of the SDF, according to the leader.

The military reinforcements included the establishment of new positions for the forces in their command centers in the villages and towns of Hajin and Basira, as well as strengthening their military points on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, according to the leader, who preferred to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) held the Syrian regime responsible for the attack on the SDF positions in Deir Ezzor, stating in a statement on Wednesday that Deir Ezzor was subjected to a “treacherous and cowardly” attack by “Damascus regime forces and their remnants linked to external powers,” killing many innocent civilians and injuring others severely.

The SDC expressed its condemnation of the attack, holding the “Damascus authorities” accountable and warning them of a deterioration in the security situation in the region.

The clashes began on Tuesday evening when regime forces supported by National Defense and Arab tribal forces launched an attack on SDF positions in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

Ibrahim al-Hafl, one of the Arab tribal sheikhs, vowed in a statement yesterday to carry out more attacks against the SDF, declaring that he would not lay down arms until “the land is liberated from Qandil militias” (referring to the SDF), as he put it.

Al-Hafl, one of the sheikhs of the al-Akidat tribe and the leader of the Arab Tribal Forces, is accused by the SDF of being loyal to the Syrian regime. He previously refused to comment on the accusations made against him by the SDF when Enab Baladi contacted him through an intermediary, citing that his family resides in areas under regime control.

The attackers captured positions in the towns of Diban, Abu Hamam, Gharanij, Shaitat, and Kishkiye after clashes with SDF elements and their subsequent withdrawal.

Clashes also took place in the towns of Sabha, Basira, and Abu Hardub.

The marginalization of the Arab component’s rights by the SDF in Deir Ezzor province has fueled popular anger against it and its failure to address the details of this exclusion despite promises previously made by its commander, Mazloum Abdi. Meanwhile, Iran has sought over the years to exploit the SDF’s behavior against the Arab component to gain the loyalty of tribal leaders and infiltrate the area.