The al-Shaitat tribe has declared a general mobilization against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after accusing them of killing a young man and withholding his body in the town of al-Granij (eastern Deir Ezzor).
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Deir Ezzor reported on Thursday, September 11, that the SDF summarily executed Hakim al-Rafi al-Khalif al-Abd al-Hassan after he refused to stop at one of their checkpoints.
According to the correspondent, an SDF patrol withheld the body and refused to hand it over to the victim’s family.
The town remains tense, with no comment yet from the SDF on the incident at the time of publication.
The correspondent added that the al-Shaitat tribe called on all tribes in eastern Deir Ezzor to join a general mobilization against the SDF following the killing.
A video circulated on social media shows calls for “jihad and general mobilization” broadcast through mosque loudspeakers in al-Granij.
Al-Shaitat is an Arab tribe belonging to the Aqidat Zubaidi confederation, spread across Deir Ezzor province, numbering between 70,000 and 90,000, and led by Sheikh Rafi Akleh al-Rajou.
This development comes amid ongoing skirmishes between government forces and the SDF in different areas, the latest of which occurred in the eastern Aleppo countryside yesterday.
It also coincides with the launch of the “Deir al-Izz” campaign on Thursday evening in the city of Deir Ezzor, aimed at raising donations for the reconstruction of the city and its devastated neighborhoods, with expectations of raising more than $25 million and ambitions to reach $50 million.
Jamil Rashid al-Ahmad, an activist from Deir Ezzor, told Enab Baladi that after the killing, residents of the town attacked SDF positions in al-Granij amid widespread public anger.
Al-Ahmad noted that the SDF refused to hand over the body to the family unless they signed a “document” (without specifying its content).
Clashes between Arab tribes and the SDF recur periodically, the most notable in January, led by Sheikh Ibrahim al-Hifl of the Aqidat tribe in eastern Deir Ezzor. The SDF accuses him of links to the former Syrian government.
In 2023 and 2024, eastern and northern Deir Ezzor witnessed armed battles that began between fighters from the Deir Ezzor Military Council, backed by Arab tribesmen, and the SDF.
These confrontations erupted in 2023 after the arrest of the council’s commander, Ahmad al-Khabil (“Abu Khawla”), following a dispute with the SDF.
Previous mobilizations
On August 15, the al-Bakara tribe in the Tel Abyad area (northern Raqqa province) also declared a general mobilization against the SDF.
In a joint statement read by elders of the al-Mashhour clan, part of the al-Bakara tribe, they pledged to continue fighting the SDF until its complete expulsion from the Jazira region.
They affirmed “full support for other tribes and clans in backing the government of the Syrian Arab Republic.”
The statement stressed the tribe’s readiness to “shed blood to liberate the lands occupied by the SDF,” addressing what it called a “final call” to tribal members under SDF authority to defect quickly, “or they will become a legitimate target for our fighters.”
According to a policy paper by Syrian researcher Hayan Dakhan, the government can now influence thousands of armed tribesmen who can be mobilized against the SDF, granting it significant leverage.
The researcher warned that using tribal forces in Suwayda to achieve state objectives may signal a future government attempt to retake the northeast, which has been under Kurdish-led self-administration since the start of the war.
