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The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies in Deir Ezzor repelled on December 3 a surprise attack that was launched by tribal fighters backed by the United States.
The attack in Deir Ezzor the only seven towns under the control of the Syrian government on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. The Deir Ezzor Military Council (DMC) of the Syrian Democratic Forces said that the attack was launched in response to calls from locals in the towns and to counter the growing threat of ISIS.
Nevertheless, the real reason behind the attack was likely to secure U.S. bases located in the nearby Conoco gas plant and al-Omar oil fields. Both bases were targeted by Iran-backed armed factions on several occasions in the wake of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
Despite receiving close air support from the U.S.-led coalition, the tribal fighters failed to capture any of the seven towns, Salihiyya, Tabiyya, Hatla, Hasham, Marrat, Mazlum and Husayniyya, from the SAA and its allies.
On December 4, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said that its forces struck three truck mounted Multiple Rocket Launchers, a T-64 tank, an armored personnel carrier, and mortars that presented “a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and Coalition forces” at the Military Support Site Euphrates in Conoco.
The attack in Deir Ezzor came just days after al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham launched a large-scale offensive in northwestern Syria, expelling the SAA from the city of Aleppo and dozens of towns in the countryside of Aleppo, Idlib and Hama.
“The U.S. mission in Syria remains unchanged as U.S. and Coalition forces continue to focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “The ongoing support of regional partners and operations in Syria are unrelated to recent events in northwest Syria,”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based pro-opposition monitoring group, the clashes in Deir Ezzor claimed the lives of two civilians, a woman and a child, three DMC fighters, as well as 11 personnel of the SAA and its allies.
The failed attack was clearly an attempt by the U.S. to take advantage of the ongoing HTS-led offensive in northwestern Syria.
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