Six killed in attack by pro-government militias on tribal area in Syria's north-east

Violence shows difficulties within tribal support base for post-Assad rule

The aftermath of an explosion in the Syrian town of Suluk in 2021. AFP

Pro-government militias have killed six people in an attack on a tribal farming community near the border with Turkey in Syria's north-east, residents said on Wednesday.

UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, put the number of casualties at four. The incident highlights the difficulties the new administration has in controlling outlying areas.

The violence in the town of Suluk, to the east of the Euphrates River in Raqqa governorate, came after members of the Unaim, the main tribe in the area, expelled on Monday a militia called the Sunni Hawks, which is one of several armed groups in the region supported by Ankara and allied with Syria's new government.

The main conflict in the north-east is between US-backed Kurdish forces and the Turkish-backed government in Damascus and its auxiliaries. The violence in Suluk indicates disagreements between the central authorities and Arab tribes.

The tribes have been trying to regain influence on their home turf, after their areas repeatedly changed hands in the 14 years of Syria's civil war between anti-Assad Kurdish militias, pro-Iranian forces and Turkish-backed forces.

Local resident Hamlan Al Ein said the expulsion of the Sunni Hawks was sparked by the beating by militiamen of an elderly man in the street while he was with his grandchild.

“It was the tipping point. People are fed up with their racketeering and thuggishness,” Mr Al Ein told The National. He said militiamen then returned to Suluk on Tuesday, accompanied by units of the Syrian National Army, another militia supported by Turkey.

“They fired mortar rounds and Dushkas randomly,” Mr Al Ein said, referring to a Soviet-era heavy machinegun. “They broke into shops and rampaged in the town.”

The dead were two tribal fighters and four civilians, he said. There was no information about casualties among the attacking forces.

Abdallah Najm, commander of the Sunni Hawks, spoke on video from the main square in Suluk. He accused the Unaim of “provocation against the government” and marring celebrations over the removal of the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad.

Mr Najm brandished a tribal robe on the video, a symbol of victory.

The Syrian National Army captured Suluk in 2018 from the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, a militia supported by the US that still controls large areas of the north-east of the country. Since the fall of Mr Al Assad, the Syrian National Army, the Sunni Hawks and other Arab militias have allied with Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the group that led the overthrow of the regime.

HTS, which was formerly linked with Al Qaeda, is led by President Ahmad Al Shara. Mr Al Shara has been seeking to enlist tribal support in the east to undermine the SDF. He has used a similar strategy against other foes in his quest to consolidate control over the country.