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On April 28, an official of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Autonomous Administration in Syria’s Deir Ezzor was killed along with six other people in a drive-by shooting that was carried out by ISIS terrorists.
Head of the Public Relations Office of the Autonomous Administration in Deir Ezzor, Nuri al-Hamish, was having Iftar [the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset] along with his friends on the balcony of his house in the town of Abu Khashab in the northern Deir Ezzor countryside when ISIS terrorists opened fire at them from an SUV before fleeing.
At least four other people were wounded as a result of the drive-by shooting attack. The victims were all civilians, according to the available information.
Following the attack, the SDF dispatched a large force to Abu Khashab where a search operation was carried out. A warplane of the US-led coalition also scouted the town and its outskirts. However, the attackers were not caught.
In a statement released by the Amaq news agency, ISIS said that the attack was a part of “The Battle of Revenge for the Killing of the Two Sheikhs”. The so-called battle is a campaign the terrorist group launched in the Levant and several other regions across the world early on in April to avenge its former leader and spokesman who died during a US raid in Syria’s northwestern region in February.
According to a recent report by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 11 members of the SDF and 11 civilians have been killed by ISIS cells in Syria’s northeastern region since the beginning of ISIS’s revenge campaign.
In response to the campaign, the SDF and its main backer, the US-led coalition, stepped up their security measures across northeastern Syria to mount more pressure on ISIS cells. However, the terrorists continue to attack. One recent attack that was attributed to the group targeted a patrol of the coalition.