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On Wednesday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that its fighters captured al-Akidat and al-Bakaara villages 20km southeast of Deir Ezzor city.
SDF fighters killed 29 ISIS members and captured one another during the clashes there. Moreover, two motorcycle and a 12.7mm gun of ISIS were captured by the SDF in the villages.
With this advance, the SDF cut off the only road that the Syrian Army had been able to use to reach and to strom the important ISIS-held town of Busariyah located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.
The SDF also captured al-Talabah village 40km southeast of Deir Ezzor city. According to the SDF five ISIS fighters and an SDF fighter were killed during the clashes in it.
Al-Akidat and al-Bakaara villages are the hometowns of Syria’s biggest tribes. Nawaf al-Bashe, the leader of al-Bakaraara tribe in Syria, is a supporter of the Syrian government, while many others in the both tribes support the opposition.
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However, no one in these two tribes have supported the US-backed SDF so far. This for sure will make things more complicated for the SDF in the near future.
Meanwhile in Raqqa governorate, Syrian opposition sources accused SDF fighters of looting Raqqa Samra village, east of Raqqa city. According to the sources, the SDF looted all the houses in the village before allowing the civilians to return to it.
Syrian opposition activists also reported that Deir Ezzor locals are being blackmailed and robbed by the SDF on its checkpoints. The result of this aggressive behavior against the locals will likely surfaces after ISIS is defeated.
لايزال يتعرّض النازحين من محافظة #ديرالزور لعمليات
سرقةو الأبتزاز بسبب الحواجز الطيارة التي يقيمها مسلحي ميليشيات #YPG pic.twitter.com/XeYdy7Jkdh— سيف الفراتي (@SaifAlFurati) November 1, 2017
