SDF blames armed groups linked to government for attack in eastern Syria

US-backed forces say five members were injured in 'desperate attempt to sow chaos'

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces leaving in Aleppo in April. Relations between the Kurdish-led group and the government have been deteriorating. EPA

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have blamed armed groups linked to the government for carrying out an attack that injured five of their members in Deir Ezzor, calling on Damascus to rein them in.

“Armed groups affiliated with the Damascus government carried out an attack on a military post belonging to the Al Kasra Military Council in Al Junaynah, in western Deir Ezzor countryside,” the SDF said in a statement on Sunday. The injuries were sustained when the forces “repelled the attack", the group added.

The SDF described the attack as a “desperate attempt to sow chaos and destabilise the region”. The US-backed SDF said it holds the government responsible for the actions of these groups and demanded that authorities “rein in its members and stop these aggressions”.

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The statement was released amid deteriorating relations between the SDF and central authorities in Damascus, with each side trading blame for recent attacks and for the lack of political progress as a March agreement to bring the forces under state control continues to stall.

Hours before the statement was released, the Kurdish-led administration denounced the Syrian government's decision to postpone an upcoming parliamentary election in two areas under its control.

The Higher Committee for People's Assembly Elections said the election, set to take place next month, would be delayed in the Druze-majority Sweida province and in the northern provinces of Hasaka and Raqqa until a “safe environment” is in place, state news agency Sana reported.

Planning for the first election since the downfall of former president Bashar Al Assad's regime comes after waves of violence in Alawite and Druze areas of the country, and amid concerns about fighting in the Kurdish-held region.

“Any decision taken through this approach of exclusion will not concern us, and we will not consider it binding for the peoples and regions of northern and eastern Syria,” the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syri said in a statement.