What’s Happening in East Syria’s Deir Ezzor Province? 

The Kurdish-led SDF spearheaded the offensive that defeated the ISIS group in Syria in 2019. (AFP)
The Kurdish-led SDF spearheaded the offensive that defeated the ISIS group in Syria in 2019. (AFP)
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What’s Happening in East Syria’s Deir Ezzor Province? 

The Kurdish-led SDF spearheaded the offensive that defeated the ISIS group in Syria in 2019. (AFP)
The Kurdish-led SDF spearheaded the offensive that defeated the ISIS group in Syria in 2019. (AFP)

Days of deadly clashes between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and local fighters have rocked eastern Syria's Deir Ezzor province, threatening a fragile balance in the strategic area.

The SDF spearheaded the offensive that defeated the ISIS group's self-declared “caliphate” in Syria in 2019.

Arab-majority Deir Ezzor province, a resource-rich region which borders Iraq, is bisected by the Euphrates river and is home to dozens of local tribal communities, some of whose fighters joined the SDF in its battle against ISIS.

AFP looks at what's behind the recent violence.

Who's in Deir Ezzor?

Control of Deir Ezzor is split between the US-backed SDF to the east of the Euphrates, and Iran-backed Syrian government forces and their proxies, including fighters from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the west.

The border area is part of key smuggling routes for fighters, weapons, drugs and consumer goods.

The SDF, which includes Kurdish, Arab, Armenian and other fighters, seized swathes of Deir Ezzor province following successive US-backed campaigns against ISIS.

A semi-autonomous Kurdish administration controls areas in north and northeast Syria, through local civilian and military councils in an effort to stave off Arab discontent, and regularly announces meetings between SDF officials and tribal leaders.

US-led coalition forces, who entered Syria in 2014 to fight ISIS, have set up bases to the east of the Euphrates.

ISIS cells in the province carry out attacks on both SDF and government forces, particularly from desert hide-outs.

What triggered the fighting?

On August 27, Kurdish-led forces detained Ahmad al-Khabil, also known as Abu Khawla, the head of the Deir Ezzor Military Council, which is affiliated with the SDF.

The SDF has accused Khabil of communicating with the Syrian government, and of alleged drug trafficking and mismanagement leading to an uptick in ISIS activities.

Angry fighters loyal to Khabil launched attacks on the SDF that spiraled into clashes in several villages and towns, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.

The situation escalated after some pro-government fighters crossed the Euphrates and joined the clashes, according to the SDF and the Britain-based Observatory, which has a vast network of sources inside Syria.

Dozens of people have been killed, mostly fighters loyal to Khabil and SDF members including Arab fighters, but also civilians, according to the Observatory.

The SDF announced a 48-hour curfew in the area starting last Saturday, and on Monday urged civilians to leave the last town where it said hostile local fighters were stationed.

The US embassy in Syria, which is based outside the country, said Sunday that two senior officials had met with the SDF, Kurdish authorities and tribal leaders from Deir Ezzor, urging de-escalation "as soon as possible".

Dispute with Arab tribes?

The SDF has denied any dispute with Arab tribes in the region, saying the clashes have mostly involved "elements of the regime and some beneficiaries" of Khabil.

It has urged local residents "not to be drawn into the strife".

However, Syrian state media has characterized the fighting as pitting the SDF against Arab tribes, while pro-government daily Al-Watan has described the local fighters as "Arab tribal forces".

"There is nothing actually known as Arab tribal forces," said Omar Abu Layla, an activist who heads the DeirEzzor24 media platform, noting that some tribal leaders work with the SDF while others quietly collaborate with the government.

Officials close to Khabil, "especially those who benefit from smuggling", started the fighting, he noted.

"What is happening today is incitement to chaos by a number of internal and external parties," he said.

Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said that "village, family, tribe, trade, smuggling -- all of that probably matters as much as the ethnic Arab-Kurdish dimension or the political conflict".

However, "if fighting spreads and Arab-Kurdish relations are poisoned... there's no shortage of actors that would be interested in feeding the chaos", he told AFP, describing the area as a "tinderbox".

Clashes rocked neighboring Hasakeh province on Sunday, after some fighters in Turkish-held areas had urged support for those opposing the Kurdish-led forces in Deir Ezzor.

Türkiye sees the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which dominate the SDF, as an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and has launched successive incursions into Syria targeting Kurdish forces.

President Bashar al-Assad's government rejects the Kurdish administration and accuses it of "separatism".



How Israel Used Spies, Smuggled Drones and AI to Stun and Hobble Iran 

Flames rise from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Flames rise from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
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How Israel Used Spies, Smuggled Drones and AI to Stun and Hobble Iran 

Flames rise from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Flames rise from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)

Israel stunned and hobbled Iran last week when it pulled off an intelligence and military operation years in the making that struck high-level targets with precision.

Guided by spies and artificial intelligence, the Israeli military unleashed a nighttime fusillade of warplanes and armed drones smuggled into Iran to quickly incapacitate many of its air defenses and missile systems. With greater freedom to fly over Iran, Israel bombarded key nuclear sites and killed top generals and scientists. By the time Iran mustered a response hours later, its ability to retaliate — already weakened by past Israeli strikes — was greatly diminished.

This Associated Press account is based on conversations with 10 current and former Israeli intelligence and military officials, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss clandestine operations.

It was not possible to independently verify some of their claims. But the former head of research at Israel's spy agency, the Mossad, confirmed the basic contours of the attack, saying she had inside knowledge of how it was planned and executed.

“This attack is the culmination of years of work by the Mossad to target Iran's nuclear program,” said Sima Shine, the former Mossad research director who is now an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies.

Israel's element of surprise was enhanced by Iranian officials' apparent assumption that Israel wouldn't attack while talks over its rapidly advancing nuclear program were ongoing with the US.

A sixth round of talks had been planned for last Sunday in Oman, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu activated “Operation Rising Lion” on Friday after his country first notified President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu has for years said neutralizing Iran's nuclear program was vital for Israel's security, and Israel had previously taken steps to set back Iran's ability to enrich uranium to weapons grade. But Netanyahu said a more aggressive attack proved necessary, as Iran kept advancing its enrichment program despite US diplomatic efforts and warnings from UN watchdogs.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction. Iran's political leaders say their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, though it was the only country without the bomb to enrich uranium close to weapons-grade levels.

Smuggling drones into Iran

The Mossad and the military worked together for at least three years to lay the operational groundwork, according to a former intelligence officer who said he had knowledge of the attack. This person spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the subject.

The attack built off knowledge Israel gained during a wave of airstrikes last October, which “highlighted the weakness of Iranian air defenses,” said Naysan Rafati, an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.

To further diminish Iranian air defenses and missile systems at the start of last week's attack, Mossad agents had smuggled precision weapons into Iran that were prepositioned to strike from close range, according to two current security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the missions. Those weapons included small, armed drones, which agents snuck into the country in vehicles, according to the former intelligence officer.

Mossad agents stationed weapons close to Iranian surface-to-air missile sites, Shine said. The agency works with a mix of people, both locals and Israelis, she said.

Using AI and human intelligence to select targets

To analyze information it gathered, Israel used the latest artificial-intelligence, or AI, technology, said an intelligence officer involved with selecting individuals and sites to target. He said AI was used to help Israelis quickly sift through troves of data they had obtained.

That effort began last October according to the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media; it was one month before Netanyahu said he had ordered the attack plans.

An investigation by The Associated Press earlier this year uncovered that the Israeli military uses US-made AI models in war to sift through intelligence and intercept communications to learn the movements of its enemies. It's been used in the wars with Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The intelligence officer involved in identifying the possible targets said options were first put into various groups, such as leadership, military, civilian and infrastructure. Targets were chosen if they were determined to be a threat to Israel, such as being deeply associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the paramilitary force that controls Iran's ballistic missiles.

The officer was tasked with putting together a list of Iranian generals, including details on where they worked and spent their free time.

Among the high-level military officials killed since Friday's attack were Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and Gen. Mohammed Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces.

In addition to AI, the Mossad relied on spies to identify top nuclear scientists and members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to one security official. At least eight members of the Guard, including the head of its missile program, were killed in a single Israeli strike on an underground bunker.

Targeting Iranian vehicles

Another facet of the attack was to strike Iranian vehicles used to transport and launch missiles.

Shine said the strategy was similar to a Ukrainian operation earlier this month in Russia. In that operation, nearly a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet was destroyed or damaged with cheaply made drones snuck into Russian territory, according to Ukrainian officials.

In an interview with Iranian state-run television, the country's police chief, Gen. Ahmadreza Radan, said “several vehicles carrying mini-drones and some tactical drones have been discovered.” He added: “a number of traitors are trying to engage the country's air defense by flying some mini-drones.”

How far back does this go?

The Mossad is believed to have carried out numerous covert attacks on the Iranian nuclear program over the years, including cyberattacks and the killing of Iranian nuclear scientists. But it rarely acknowledges such operations.

In the 2000s, Iranian centrifuges used for enriching uranium were destroyed by the so-called Stuxnet computer virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation.

In 2018, Israel stole an archive of Iranian nuclear research that included tens of thousands of pages of records, said Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired general and former military intelligence researcher who now directs the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.

In July 2024, Israel killed a senior leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, with a bomb in a bedroom of a government guesthouse in Tehran.

Israel's blistering attack last week on the heart of Iran's nuclear and military structure didn't come out of nowhere, said retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, who heads the Israel Defense and Security Forum think tank.

It was the result of “Israeli intelligence working extensively for years in Iran and establishing a very strong robust presence,” he said.