Eurasia Press & News
Deir ez-Zor Province witnessed intense clashes early Sunday morning between the Syrian Army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), followed by heightened security tensions and the deployment of reinforcements by both sides to frontline positions.
Deir ez-Zor Province witnessed intense clashes early Sunday morning between the Syrian Army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), followed by heightened security tensions and the deployment of reinforcements by both sides to frontline positions.
According to a correspondent for Ultra Syria, the skirmishes erupted along the Euphrates River bed in eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside, triggered by an SDF infiltration attempt toward areas under government control.
Field sources reported that units from the Syrian Army’s 66th and 86th Divisions mobilized significant reinforcements and positioned themselves along the riverbed after the confrontations broke out in the town of Muhkan. Government forces repelled the infiltration bid, inflicting human and material losses on the attackers, including the destruction of an SDF military outpost in the adjacent town of Dhiban.
The sources added that SDF elements attempted to cross using three patrol boats after opening fire on army checkpoints along the riverbanks. The incursion failed, with forces targeting one of the army positions in Muhkan, prompting a direct government counterstrike on the sources of fire.
In response, the SDF dispatched military reinforcements from the Al-Omar oil field toward Dhiban, coinciding with the flight of affiliated suicide drones over the area. Other SDF groups sought to advance from the towns of Al-Sha’afa and Al-Baghouz to open a new front and alleviate pressure on their positions in Dhiban.
Later, the Syrian Democratic Forces issued a statement claiming that “unknown armed elements fired an RPG round from positions on the western bank of the Euphrates toward one of our points in Abu Hamaam village in eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside this evening, with no human casualties reported.”
The statement further noted that SDF forces “responded appropriately to the sources of fire, targeting the attackers’ positions with precision,” adding that the area is now experiencing “relative calm,” while its security apparatus continues “investigative and follow-up operations to identify the perpetrators.”
The SDF affirmed that its forces “remain in a constant state of readiness to protect civilians and ensure regional stability.” Local sources indicated a cautious calm prevails in the area following the cessation of clashes, with intermittent tensions along the eastern Euphrates bank.
This incident marks a fresh flare-up in longstanding frictions between the Syrian government and the U.S.-backed SDF, which controls much of Syria’s northeast, including oil-rich areas. Despite a March 2025 agreement between Damascus and the SDF for integrating civil and military institutions in the north and east—encompassing constitutional protections for Kurds, refugee returns, and rejection of partition—the implementation has faltered amid mutual accusations of violations.
Reports confirm the clashes involved small arms, RPGs, and artillery, lasting several hours without altering territorial lines. The Syrian Defense Ministry has not issued an official comment, but similar past exchanges—such as those in August 2025—have involved drone overflights and cross-river fire, underscoring persistent border disputes along the Euphrates.
No immediate casualties were confirmed beyond the SDF’s denial of injuries, though the escalation risks broader instability in a region pivotal to Syria’s post-Assad transitional dynamics.
