BEIRUT (AP) – Clashes broke out Monday between two U.S.-backed groups in eastern Syria, leaving three militants dead and raising tensions in the region where hundreds of American troops are deployed, sources said.
The clashes raise concerns of more divisions between U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab militants in eastern Syria that borders Iraq and where the Daesh group once enjoyed wide presence.
Monday’s clashes came a day after the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led so-called Syrian Democratic Forces detained the commander a formerly allied group and several other members of his faction after they were invited to a meeting in the northeastern city of Hassakeh on Sunday.
The SDF did not confirm the detention of Ahmad Khbeil, better known as Abu Khawla. He heads the Dayr al-Zawr Military Council, which was allied with the SDF. SDF officials did not immediately respond to questions by The Associated Press about the arrest.
Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Britain-based so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said that the SDF was concerned that Khbeil was opening links with Turkey, whose troops have carried out several operations targeting Kurdish militants in north Syria since 2016.
Khbeil’s arrest could increase tension between Kurds and Arabs because most of his supporters who were also detained belong to a powerful tribe in eastern Syria. In July, a clash between the two sides left at least one Arab militant dead.
On Monday, several sources reported clashes between the sides in villages in Dayr al-Zawr. The Observatory and Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who follows events in the region, said three members of the Dayr al-Zawr Military Council were killed. Other activists said that angry Arab tribesmen cut roads in the province in protest against the SDF.
The Observatory also reported that members of the Kurdish police force known as Asayesh stormed the offices of Baz news network, an activist collective, and detained five citizen journalists including the head of the network. The Observatory said the network is funded by Khbeil.
Baz news network said in a statement that Kurdish militants detained its journalists, confiscated equipment and took control of its offices.