03/30/24: Opposition media reported that journalist Rakan Ahmad was kidnapped from his house in Girkê Legê/al-Mu’abbadah by ‘SDF intelligence.’ Ahmad works for media outlet Nûdem Rojava and is reportedly a member of PDK-S (Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria), the main opposition party to the PYD within the Syrian Kurdish political sphere. According to sources of SyriaTV, the kidnapping was linked to his coverage of ENKS sponsored Newroz celebrations earlier in the month. Another ENKS official was reportedly kidnapped in Girkê Legê two days later.
03/31/24: Two members of the Asayish were killed in an attack carried out by unknown militants in the town of Gharanij, eastern Deir ez-Zour. According to the obituaries published by the Asayish both of the deceased were local men from the adjacent town of al-Kishkiyah (or “Jashjiyah”). Clashes between two families in Gharanij were reported in local news the same day, but it’s unclear whether there’s any relation between the two incidents. Meanwhile about a dozen attacks targeting the SDF were reported in Deir ez-Zour over the course of the week, some by ‘tribal forces’ others by unidentified actors.
03/31/24: A car bomb was detonated at a market in A’zaz, killing four civilians including two children and injuring at least twenty others. Later in the week al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah announced the arrest of the suspected perpetrators who claimed to have been paid to carry it out by SDF operatives in an arrest/confession video put out by the SNA faction.
04/02/24: According to a statement a video published several days after, Hêzên Rizgariya Efrînê (HRE) claimed to have targeted an SNA Toyota with an ATGM near the town of Maryamin along the Afrin/al-Shahba’ front lines. The group also put out a sniper video reportedly taken the day prior slightly to the northeast on the front lines near A’zaz.
04/03/24: A Turkish drone strike targeted a truck in central Kobanî, killing two YPJ members including Turkish-born commander Vahide Atalay/Sorwîn Celal. Turkish state media later reported that MIT claimed the assassination. Two days later MIT reportedly carried out some sort of cross-border operation that resulted in the capture of another YPJ cadre.
04/03/24: Opposition media reported that a member of the SDF’s Quwwat al-Sanadid was killed in an attack carried out by unknown perpetrators targeting a checkpoint in the village of Ghassan in northeastern al-Hasakah. Attacks this far north and east are rare.
04/04/24: Tajammu’ al-Shahba’ announced that it was dissolving itself and that its constituent factions would be joining the SNA 3rd Legion’s al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah. Tajammu’ al-Shahba’ was founded in February 2023 by former factions affiliated with al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah including 50th Division and Ahrar al-Sham Eastern Sector, as well as Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, and operated outside the auspices of the Syrian National Army. Its alleged HTS ties lead to its frequent tensions with SNA factions, occasionally resulting in large scale clashes in the Euphrates Shield region and Afrin. In late February the SIG’s Ministry of Defense announced that Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki had joined the SNA under the name 19th Division, reportedly as part of the 2nd Legion. Meanwhile the rest of Tajammu’ al-Shahba’ seemingly imploded following the Sajo convoy controversy which created an impetus for Turkey to finally split the dissident coalition up and force it back into the SNA hierarchy.
Despite these recent mergers there still appear to be four different Ahrar al-Sham splinters active within the ranks of the SNA: (1) recently renamed Maghawir al-Sham or 7th Division, based in Afrin and headed by Yousef al-Hamawi, reportedly belonging to the 2nd Legion, (2) Ahrar al-Sham Eastern Sector of the 2nd Legion led by Abu Haidar Maskanah (which made a statement re-emphasizing this allegiance the following day), (3) the Ahrar al-Sham Eastern Sector (media shared via several broader Ahrar media channels) that belonged to Tajammu’ al-Shahba’, commonly referred to Ahrar ‘Awlan and headed by Hussein Talib, now part of the 3rd Legion, and (4) the former Ahrar al-Sham brigades led by ‘Ala’ Faham that remained within al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah/the 3rd Legion after the ‘Eastern Sector’ initially broke off in 2022 (briefly forming the 37th Division last year). The proliferation of Ahrar al-Sham splinters in northern Aleppo is caused by several factors including pro- and anti-HTS currents within the movement, in addition to different waves of Ahrar al-Sham contingents entering the region as some were active prior to the formation of the SNA, joining the Turkish-created structure under the al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah banner as the 32nd Division while others arrived afterwards due to disputes in HTS-controlled Idlib.
04/05/24: Efrin News 24 published a new video showing a reported Furqat al-Hamzah digging operation near the village of Şîtka in the Ma’batli subdistrict of Afrin. The video shows a bulldozer parked below an excavated hill (located here) near the village cemetery. Digging has previously been reported as this same site, known by locals as “Bir al-Tell.” Since the Turkish and SNA capture of the region dozens of small hills such as this one - many artificial mounds created by human detritus over millennia and referred to in archaeological parlance by the Arabic word “tell” - have been excavated in a similarly crude manner in search of potentially valuable artifacts to sell on the black market. Post-2011 tell excavation has occurred elsewhere in Syria as well, though Afrin appears to have a particularly high concentration of such sites.
Claimed Islamic State attacks against the SDF:
04/01/24: Attack targeting an SDF headquarters in al-Shabakah neighborhood of al-Shuhail, central Deir ez-Zour, allegedly injuring at least one fighter. SDF-aligned North Press Agency confirmed the attack occurred but not the claimed results of it.
04/01/24: Attack targeting an SDF fighter near al-Houl, eastern al-Hasakah, allegedly killing him.
04/02/24: Attack targeting an SDF vehicle in Dhiban, central Deir ez-Zour, allegedly killing a fighter and wounding three others. SDF-aligned North Press Agency confirmed the attack occurred but not the claimed results of it.
04/02/24: Attack targeting an SDF checkpoint in Dhiban, central Deir ez-Zour, allegedly killing two fighters and wounding three others. SDF-aligned North Press Agency confirmed the attack occurred but not the claimed results of it.
04/02/24: Attack targeting an SDF checkpoint in the Ghweiran neighborhood of al-Hasakah city, allegedly injuring at least one fighter.
04/03/24: IED attack targeting an SDF vehicle on al-Kharafi road, southern al-Hasakah, allegedly killing a fighter and wounding two others. Al-Kharafi road is a desert highway running from al-Shaddadi to Deir ez-Zour city that has been the site of numerous Islamic State attacks on SDF targets over the last several years.
04/03/24: Attack targeting an SDF checkpoint on the al-Houl town road, eastern al-Hasakah, allegedly resulting in the killing of a fighter and the injuring of two others.
04/04/24: Attack targeting an SDF commander in Barihah, central Deir ez-Zour, allegedly resulting in his death and the wounding of his companions. This was confirmed by the Asayish which identified the deceased as a member of its ranks from nearby al-Busayrah.
04/04/24: Attack targeting an SDF military point in al-Farat, Manbij, allegedly killing a fighter. This was confirmed by the Asayish which identified the victim as a member local to the village.
04/04/24: Attack targeting an SDF vehicle in al-Qamishli, allegedly injuring at least one fighter.
04/05/24: Attack targeting an SDF checkpoint in al-Busayrah, central Deir ez-Zour, allegedly injuring a number of fighters.