JEDDAH (Agencies): Kurdish-led forces sent troop reinforcements to Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria on Monday amid days of clashes with fighters loyal to the head of the local provincial military council.
Fighting erupted a week ago after the Syrian Democratic Forces arrested Ahmad Al-Khabil. They accused him of communicating with the Assad regime in Damascus, and of drug trafficking and mismanagement leading to an increase in Daesh activities.
Angry fighters loyal to Khabil launched attacks on the SDF that spiraled into clashes in several villages and towns. At least 71 people have been killed in the fighting, mostly fighters but including nine civilians.
SDF spokesman Farhad Shami said his forces were trying to “settle the situation” in Dhiban, the last town where fighters loyal to Khabil were concentrated. “We urge civilians to leave,” he said.
The situation was heading toward “a settlement and the end of tensions” after other villages where clashes took place were searched.
Deir Ezzor province, a resource-rich region that borders Iraq, is bisected by the Euphrates River and is home to dozens of local tribal communities, some of whose fighters joined the SDF in its battle against Daesh.
Control of the province is split between the SDF to the east of the Euphrates and Iran-backed Assad regime forces and their proxies to the west.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said dozens of fighters were still in Dhiban, and residents were fleeing the area. Arab tribes were divided in their loyalties, the Observatory said.
The SDF denies any dispute with Arab tribes in the region, and says the clashes have mostly involved “elements of the regime and some beneficiaries” of Khabil’s illicit activities. It urged local residents “not to be drawn into the strife.”
The Assad regime has described the fighting as pitting the SDF against Arab tribes, but activist Omar Abu Layla said: “There is nothing actually known as Arab tribal force.” Some tribal leaders worked with the SDF while others quietly collaborated with the regime, he said.
People close to Khabil, “especially those who benefit from smuggling,” had started the fighting, Abu Laylasaid.
“What is happening today is incitement to chaos by a number of internal and external parties. If the tribes had really all agreed to go against the SDF, then the SDF would not still be in Deir Ezzor.”
