Syrian Arab tribes reject US effort to co-opt anti-SDF revolt
Arab tribes in Deir Ezzor began a revolt against the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces in August and have attacked US forces in response to Israel's war on Gaza
Arab Tribes fighting a revolt against the US-backed and Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) occupying northeast Syria have rejected US attempts to co-opt their movement using tribal figures now living in the US, Al-Mayadeenreported on 10 January.
Mahmoud al-Musalat and Aboud Jadaan al-Hafel, who had emigrated to the US, returned to Syria last month to hold meetings with the Arab tribes in the Deir Ezzor governorate. On behalf of the US government, Musalat and Hafel sought to convince the tribes to end their revolt against the SDF and support the US project in the region, sources speaking with Al-Maydeen said.
Aboud Jadaan al-Hafel is the uncle of the sheik of the Al-Aqidat tribe, Ibrahim al-Hafel, who leads the military and popular movement against the SDF in Deir Ezzor.
The Arab revolt against Kurdish rule in the form of the SDF began in August. Ibrahim al-Hafel quickly organized the resistance with support from the Syrian government. Tribal forces sought to expel SDF forces from Deir Ezzor and force them to return to the Kurdish-majority governorate of Hasakah.
But Aboud’s efforts to create a rapprochement between the Arab tribes and the SDF after returning from the US were unsuccessful, tribal sources confirmed to Al-Mayadeen.
The sources added that “the tribesmen did not show any enthusiasm for the ideas held by [Aboud] al-Hafel regarding the issue of partnering with the SDF in managing the region and granting a role to the tribesmen in managing their areas,” noting that “the majority of the clans’ and tribes’ notables confirmed their lack of confidence in the United States of America and its biased role toward parties that It supports it in Syria,” referring to the SDF.
The sources pointed out that “the people of the Al-Aqidat tribe only recognize the office of the sons of Khalil Aboud Al-Hafel as their sheikhdom, and they show loyalty to them in all their orientations in the region,” expecting that “these people brought from the United States will return to the areas from which they came without achieving any of their goals.”
Ibrahim al-Hafel and his tribal fighters claimed responsibility for a missile attack on the US-controlled Conoco base in Deir Ezzor in October as part of the broader resistance to US occupation of Syria by Iraqi armed groups known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Attacks by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq against US forces occupying Syria and Iraq have accelerated since 7 October when war erupted between Israel and Hamas.
Along with other groups forming the Axis of Resistance, such as Hezbollah and Ansarallah, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has sought to target the US and Israel to help counter Israel’s war on Gaza, which is widely viewed as constituting Genocide.