At least one civilian was killed and an unspecified number injured in an unprovoked firing incident by the US occupation forces in al-Shahadi in Syria’s north-eastern Hasaka province on Sunday, June 11, Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.
SANA claimed that local Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also participated in the “indiscriminate firing” on houses and agricultural fields carried out while the US forces were conducting an airdrop operation near the Syria-Iraq border.
The report claimed that SDF had cordoned off the area while the operation was carried out, preventing the citizens from leaving.
Though there is no official verification about the incident from the US forces or the SDF yet, they have previously been involved in several similar incidents, supposedly as part of operations against ISIS, but which also led to the arrest of local tribesmen who opposed the presence of US forces.
US forces and the SDF have been conducting such operations in the area using live ammunition for some time now, claiming increased threat of attacks from terrorist groups in the region. Hasaka and nearby Syrian provinces are mostly controlled by the SDF and the US forces.
US troops were originally deployed in the region to fight ISIS in 2014, when the Syrian government was busy with the war at home. However, even after the US and its allies declared victory against ISIS in 2019, the forces were not withdrawn, with former US President Donald Trump claiming that their presence in Syria was to protect oil fields from falling into the hands of ISIS.
The Syrian government has termed the presence of US forces in the country as illegal, calling it an occupation and demanding their immediate withdrawal. The government has stated that contrary to the US claims, these forces aid “terrorist” groups fighting against the government and are prolonging the war in the country. It has also alleged that the US forces are involved in the loot of Syrian oil resources.
US forces have reinforced their presence around Syria’s oil fields in the region lately by bringing in forces from neighboring Iraq, Cradle.co reported.
According to local news reports, the SDF has also been involved in fresh attacks in government-controlled areas in the region. Its fighters had briefly held over 150 Syrian officials and soldiers captive last week and threatened to block access to Qamishli, the second largest city in the Hasaka province.
