Deadly Attack in Eastern Syria: At Least Five Kurdish Fighters Killed in ISIL Assault

Deadly Attack in Eastern Syria: At Least Five Kurdish Fighters Killed in ISIL Assault

In eastern Syria, a deadly attack by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS) has claimed the lives of at least five Kurdish fighters. The Kurdish-led forces in Syria have described this as one of the most lethal attacks against them in recent times.

ISIL's own news agency reported that the group carried out the assault in the Deir ez-Zor region of eastern Syria, killing five members of the Kurdish forces. The attack has raised renewed concerns over ISIL's resurgence in the region.

Farhad Shami, spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—a Kurdish-led alliance—told Reuters on Monday that five of their members were killed in the incident, calling it one of the deadliest recent attacks on their forces.

The city of Deir ez-Zor was captured by ISIL in 2014, but was retaken by the Syrian Army in 2017.

At its peak, ISIL controlled vast territories in Syria and Iraq — including Raqqa, located about 160 kilometers east of Aleppo, and Mosul in northern Iraq. The group imposed a brutal regime over millions of people.

Former ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate over Syria and Iraq in 2014. However, he was killed in a U.S. special forces operation in northwestern Syria in 2019, during the group's collapse.

At its height, ISIL controlled an area roughly the size of half the United Kingdom. The group was notorious for beheading civilians, killing 1,700 Iraqi soldiers in a single incident, and abducting Yazidi women to subject them to rape and slavery.

In September 2014, a U.S.-led coalition of over 80 countries was formed to fight ISIL. The coalition continues to conduct operations against ISIL’s remaining hideouts in Syria and Iraq.

The war against ISIL was officially declared over in March 2019, when U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led SDF forces captured the town of Baghouz in eastern Syria — ISIL’s last stronghold.

ISIL was defeated in Iraq in July 2017 when Iraqi forces recaptured Mosul. Three months later, the SDF retook the city of Raqqa, which had served as ISIL’s de facto capital.

However, in recent times, ISIL has been attempting to reactivate its networks — recruiting new members and claiming responsibility for deadly attacks around the world.