In a rare surge in violence, a series of attacks in opposition-held areas of Syria killed at least 11 people on Wednesday, according to United States-backed forces and an opposition war monitoring group.
In what has amounted to the most intense fighting in more than a year, fighters supported by the Syrian government and Iran launched an assault on the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, killing at least two people and wounding others, the predominantly Kurdish US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Wednesday.
The SDF stated in a statement that “Syrian regime-backed mercenaries” began their assault on the villages of Dhiban, Latwa, and Abu Hamam on Tuesday and that fighting continued into Wednesday as the group tried to retake control.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, based in Britain, confirmed the deaths and said that the SDF has since called in reinforcements to route the aggression.
Also on Wednesday, a truck bomb detonated in the Turkish-held northern city of Azaz, killing at least nine people, according to the Syrian Civil Defense volunteer organization.
The Turkish Armed Forces and its ally, the Syrian National Army, have launched three major incursions into the country since 2016 and maintain control of a large swath of land along the Turkish-Syrian border.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The attacks come only a few days after a rocket strike on a US military base in Iraq wounded several American service members.