The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that one of their positions in the town of Granij (eastern Deir Ezzor countryside in eastern Syria) had been targeted from the western bank of the Euphrates River by what they described as “factions affiliated with the Damascus government” on the evening of Sunday, 23 November.
The SDF Media Center said on its Telegram account that the attack resulted in one of its fighters being seriously wounded and transported to hospital.
Meanwhile, a security source in the al-Bukamal Security Directorate (in eastern Deir Ezzor province, near the Iraqi border) denied that any clashes had taken place between the Syrian army and the SDF on Sunday evening.
The security source told Enab Baladi that there had been no clashes with the SDF in the area, but that skirmishes between the two sides occur constantly along the Euphrates River.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Deir Ezzor also denied that SDF positions in Granij had been targeted.
Two attacks on Asayish forces
The Internal Security Forces in North and East Syria (Asayish), which are affiliated with the Autonomous Administration, said that their forces had come under two simultaneous attacks on 21 November in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. The attacks were carried out by what Asayish described as “terrorist cells seeking to destabilize security and spread chaos”.
In a statement published at the time, Asayish said that two people on a motorcycle had opened fire in bursts at a joint checkpoint of its forces and the SDF in the town of Abriha (eastern Deir Ezzor countryside), then fled the scene, while unknown assailants threw a hand grenade at one of its centers in Dhiban (eastern Deir Ezzor countryside), without any casualties being recorded among its personnel.
However, Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Deir Ezzor reported that two separate attacks had targeted positions belonging to the Autonomous Administration. The first, in Abriha, targeted Commando forces and left one fighter wounded, while the second targeted the municipal point and resulted in several Asayish members being injured.
Asayish stated that its forces directly engaged the sources of fire at both locations, after which the attackers withdrew. Patrols were immediately deployed in the area and the security presence reinforced, alongside the start of follow up procedures to investigate the perpetrators and track down “the parties behind them”, as the statement put it.
Previous attack
On 2 November, a checkpoint belonging to the SDF in the town of Abu Hamam (eastern Deir Ezzor countryside) came under an armed attack that developed into clashes between SDF fighters and the assailants.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Deir Ezzor said that gunmen had targeted the al-Sannour checkpoint in Abu Hamam with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), leading to an exchange of fire between the attackers and SDF fighters.
In a statement published on 2 November, the SDF said that its fighters had foiled a “terrorist” attack on one of its checkpoints in the town, noting that its members had repelled the attack and responded to it “immediately”, with no casualties in its ranks.
The SDF added that the attackers “fled under the blows of its fighters”, and that its forces combed the area after the attack and restored “security and stability”, affirming that it would continue its security operations in the area “to confront any threat targeting civilians”.
Truce in Raqqa
The Syrian army and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached a truce providing for a comprehensive ceasefire and an end to mutual targeting in the eastern countryside of Raqqa, following clashes between the two sides that lasted for about a week.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Raqqa reported that the two sides had agreed to a truce starting on 21 November, after a week of clashes in which all types of weapons were used.
On 22 November, however, at around 2:30 p.m., the eastern countryside witnessed an exchange of fire between the two sides that lasted for about 15 minutes, triggered by a provocation initiated by the SDF, after which the firing stopped and the situation has remained calm since, according to the correspondent.
The SDF had earlier issued a statement saying that calm had returned to the Ghanem al-Ali front in eastern Raqqa countryside (northeastern Syria) after artillery shelling carried out by “factions affiliated with the Damascus government” on the area, which did not cause any human or material losses.