“After SDF counter attack against the regime forces and militias, we regained control over the taken areas,” spokesperson Kino Gabriel stated Monday evening.
He said there is now a “cautious calm” in the area.
The US-backed SDF clashed with the Iranian and Russian-backed regime forces in eastern Deir ez-Zor on Sunday. They are both involved in anti-ISIS operations in the oil-rich province with the Euphrates River serving as an approximate dividing line between them.
Syrian state media had claimed on Sunday that the army had “liberated four villages” from the SDF. It has not immediately commented on the SDF counter-offensive.
The coalition confirmed the regime attack on Sunday morning in a statement to the Jerusalem Post, stating that it “used established deconfliction channels to de-escalate the situation.”
The US and Russia maintain a line of communication to prevent incidents between them in the congested battlefields in Syria.
Anti-ISIS operations in Deir ez-Zor have resumed north of the Euphrates River after an “operational pause” when the SDF redeployed hundreds of forces to defend Afrin from Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch.
The SDF remains committed to its “duty” to defeat ISIS, Gabriel stated on Sunday.
