Syria
Protesters wave signs as they ride motorbikes through the streets of Deir ez-Zor rejecting the return of Syrian regime forces and their Iranian backers. Photo: D24 / Telegram
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria – As a Syrian army defector, Abu Omar al-Akidi has a lot to lose if Bashar al-Assad’s men reestablish control over Basirah in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor.
“More than 25,000 people are wanted by the Syrian regime, between military defectors, rebels and activists,” said Akidi, who has organized many of the town’s recent demonstrations.
Almost daily protests have gripped Basirah where residents are terrified by the prospect of regime troops returning.
“Rumors started spreading [from regime sources] saying that the regime is coming within days, so our people took to the streets and began organizing demonstrations against the regime. For days now we’ve been protesting,” Akidi told Rudaw English.
Forces loyal to Syrian president Assad had withdrawn from northern Syria to fight armed opposition groups further south when the 2011 uprising escalated into civil war.
In their place, the long oppressed Kurdish minority filled the vacuum by setting up its own democratic institutions and armed forces to resist the Islamic State (ISIS), which had emerged from the conflict.
US troops had been stationed in the region to support the fight against ISIS. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized the jihadists’ last holdout of Baghouz in Deir ez-Zor in March 2019.
US President Donald Trump withdrew the American contingent from northern Syria in early-October, claiming the war was over. Turkey seized the opportunity to launch its military incursion against the SDF, which it considers a terrorist organization.
To protect Kurdish areas from the Turkish invasion, the SDF struck a deal with Damascus and its Russian backers to allow regime troops to return and to secure the border.
The Kurdish administration insisted the deal only relates to security and does not affect the political autonomy of the region. This would be worked out at a later date, it said.
However, the people of Basirah are concerned the move will lead to the restoration of Assad’s power in the region and undo the gains of the past eight years.
Sources on the ground told Rudaw the main aim of the protests is for regime forces and their Iranian backers to keep out of the region east of the Euphrates River and for the US-led coalition to keep these forces at bay.
“Deir ez-Zor is one of the areas that revolted most against the regime during the revolution,” Akidi said.
“Our role here as activists and organizers is to be the backbone of demonstrations in the region and make sure the revolution continues in the area.”
The area east of the Euphrates is strategically important – sharing a land border with Iraq and containing the majority of Syria’s arable land and its valuable oilfields.
Konico, Omar, and Al-Tenk are home to some of the region’s richest oilfields. A small contingent of US troops has been left in the area to guard these assets and prevent them falling into the hands of ISIS militants – or America’s strategic rivals.
“I still think the chances of the regime and Iranian forces entering are low because people don’t want them here and because the coalition would want to remain in Deir ez-Zor to protect the oil fields,” Akidi said.
Changes in the power balance have emboldened ISIS sleeper cells in the area, leading to concerns of a concerted resurgence.
Militants have recently launched attacks on the SDF-held areas of Basirah, Shaheel, Al Tayyanah, Al Razz, and Dheban.
ISIS propaganda outlet Amaq announced via Telegram on Sunday that militants had killed an SDF fighter after taking him prisoner in Theban, near Basirah.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reportedly killed in a US military raid in the early hours of Sunday in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib. The group nevertheless continues to operate small, sophisticated cells scattered across Syria and Iraq.
By Asmaa Alomar, edited by Robert Edwards
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