Iranian-backed militias resumed attacks against US-led International Coalition forces in north-east Syria for the first time in months, launching three drones and a rocket strike against the Conoco base in late July. Iranian proxy forces largely halted attacks against the coalition after the beginning of 2024. In response, coalition forces retaliated with a drone strike that destroyed a vehicle on the outskirts of eastern Deir Ezzor.
This low-level insurgency appears to be receiving increasingly explicit support from the Assad regime, which is trying to use tribal divisions and grievances against the Self Administration to divide the local population and further regime objectives in the north-east.
The SDF has meanwhile continued to crack down on demonstrations against its policies, targeting and jailing political opponents across the region—but particularly those affiliated with the rival Kurdish National Council (KNC). At the beginning of July, SDF security forces arrested senior KNC leader Suleiman Asso in Qamishli city, triggering widespread condemnation and public protests by his supporters in the city. The SDF forcefully dispersed the crowds, injuring several demonstrators in the process.
ISIS Activity
Deir Ezzor and Raqqa provinces remain the two epicenters of ISIS attacks targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), even as numbers of attacks and deaths decline after the SDF ramped-up operations against extremist cells. Recent weeks witnessed a total of seven armed attacks and two IED blasts by ISIS, killing four SDF troops and injuring five others. Attacks against regime forces have also declined over the past several months, with five soldiers killed in a string of five armed attacks and two IED blasts, mostly in the desert regions of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa.
SDF Activity
Low-intensity clashes between the SDF and tribal forces continued across Deir Ezzor province in July. Between 19th and 20th July, dissident tribal fighters attacking several checkpoints and military sites in a series of small-scale attacks in western Deir Ezzor. Days later, another attack targeted an SDF military headquarters in eastern Deir Ezzor’s Abu Hamam. Meanwhile, the SDF still regularly clashed with regime forces in eastern Deir Ezzor province—despite cooperation with Assad’s forces in areas bordering Turkish-controlled territory.
Clashes between the SDF and Turkish forces slowed in recent weeks, with the number of cross-border altercations tapering off to the lowest point in months. Even so, Turkish military forces bombarded SDF positions with heavy weaponry early in July, striking rural areas of northern Hasakeh. No casualties were recorded.
The SDF has continued a prolonged campaign targeting ISIS elements and arresting local-level leaders, with substantial support from the US-led International Coalition. During a series of operations across the city of Raqqa, the Deir Ezzor countryside and the Hasakeh countryside, the SDF arrested six suspected ISIS cell members and killed two others during an armed standoff.
The SDF also continues to forcibly recruit young men into its ranks, rounding them up at checkpoints around Raqqa city, eastern Deir Ezzor’s Hajin and at several locations across Hasakeh province. The SDF arrested Suleiman Asso, a prominent leader of the rival Kurdish National Council (KNC), in Qamishli city, on the 1st of July. The arrest sparked an immediate response from Asso’s local supporters, prompting demonstrations that lasted for several days. The SDF forcefully dispersed the protests, seriously wounding at least two individuals in the process.
US-Led International Coalition Activity
Breaking months of relative calm in north-east Syria, on 26th July Iranian-backed militias launched their first direct strikes targeting US-led International Coalition forces since early 2024, firing three drone strikes and a rocket attack targeting the Conoco base in Deir Ezzor. Coalition forces continue to carry out weekly patrols through eastern Deir Ezzor and parts of Hasakeh.
Political & Humanitarian Developments
While regime-held areas saw some participation in the mid-July parliamentary elections—albeit with low turnout recorded across regime-held areas of the country, and especially in south Syria—there was no participation or promotion of the regime’s parliamentary vote in SDF-controlled regions.
