Attacks target SDF, Syrian forces in Deir ez-Zor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced late Sunday that their fighters had successfully repelled a “treacherous terrorist attack” targeting one of their outposts in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province. The incident coincided with a separate attack on Syrian government forces in the area, which left several defense ministry personnel injured.

In a statement, the SDF said its forces “thwarted a treacherous terrorist attack carried out by gunmen on one of our forces' checkpoints in the town of Abu Hamam in the eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside.”

The attackers “used RPG rockets, prompting an immediate response” from SDF fighters, the statement added, noting that “the attack resulted in no casualties” among the Kurdish-led forces. The gunmen “fled under the fire of our fighters, amid pursuit by our forces, who proceeded to sweep the area and restore security and stability,” the SDF said.

Reaffirming its commitment to regional security, the SDF emphasized that its forces “will not hesitate to confront any threat to the security and safety of civilians” and pledged to continue operations to “support and consolidate civil peace and enhance stability in the region.”

For its part, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights late Sunday corroborated the SDF reports, elaborating that the assailants were “members of an Islamic State (ISIS) cell.”

SOHR added that it has “documented 208 operations” by ISIS cells within areas administered by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) since the beginning of 2025.

According to the monitor, the latter attacks have left 97 people dead, including 68 SDF fighters and affiliated personnel, 13 ISIS militants and one of their collaborators, and 15 civilians.

The attack in Abu Hamam came just one day after the SDF announced the dismantling of an ISIS cell in a “precise” operation in coordination with the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the north-central Raqqa province.

“As part of our ongoing national mission to protect the regions of North and East Syria from the threat of terrorism, our Military Operations Teams (TOL) and Commando Forces, with direct support from the International Coalition, carried out a high-level operation at dawn today [Saturday] targeting a hideout of an ISIS terrorist cell in the town of Tal al-Saman, north of Raqqa,” the SDF said.

The operation led to the capture of "five ISIS terrorists, including three senior leaders involved in planning and carrying out terrorist attacks against our military points and institutions of the DAANES."

ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 but has continued to wage an insurgency, exploiting the instability that followed the downfall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in December.

In a separate incident, SOHR reported on Sunday that “three [Syrian] defense ministry personnel were injured when a grenade exploded at the headquarters of the 86th Brigade in the city of Albu Kamal,” also in Deir ez-Zor.

Another explosion using a “device planted on a motorcycle” reportedly took place, targeting a “brigade patrol as it was leaving to pursue the attackers, resulting in the three members being wounded,” the monitor said, adding that the perpetrators remain unidentified as security forces continue their investigation.

Of note, the town of Abu Hamam, where Sunday’s attack on the SDF occurred, lies within the Hajin subdistrict, one of four subdistricts that make up the larger Abu Kamal district.

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