At least 90 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in over a week of fighting between local tribal groups affiliated to the Deir Ez Zor Military Council (DEMC) and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria’s north-east region which includes the oil-rich Deir Ez Zor province.
The SDF announced it has taken back control of some of the villages taken over earlier by the DEMC, and declared the end of its military operations on Wednesday. However, fighting is still ongoing in different parts of Syria’s north-east, according to reports by Al-Jazeera.
The fighting has caused fresh displacement in the region, with thousands of people forced to leave their homes and move to safer places.
The local tribal groups have raised questions about the SDF taking sole control of the region’s oil resources and facilitating its looting by the occupying US forces, apart from guarding their larger geopolitical interests.
Fighting between the groups broke out on August 30 when the SDF arrested one of the tribal commanders, Ahmad al-Khbeil or Abu Khawla, in Hasakah. The DEMC was a long-time ally of the SDF in the fight against ISIS, but in recent times has objected to the US presence in the region.
The SDF and the DEMC, with the backing of the US, were among the forces that defeated ISIS in the region in 2017. However, US forces refused to leave the region despite officially announcing victory against ISIS. US forces claim to be protecting the oil resources in the region from falling into the hands of ISIS.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government has accused the US of stealing the country’s oil resources through the Iraqi border, and even supporting the anti-government forces to keep the war alive.
According to a report in the Cradle, the US has tried to mediate between the DEMC and the SDF to end the fighting, with the promise of addressing the grievances raised by the local tribes.
Around 900 US troops are currently stationed in one permanent and several temporary bases in the region without the consent of the Syrian government. Their presence has led to the occasional outbreak of popular resistance and violence in the past.
