SDF says no plans to attack Abu Kamal held by Iran-backed forces
Some experts have reported that pro-Iran forces are present in Syrian government-controlled areas. According to Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a former research fellow at the Middle East Forum, Damascus-run areas in eastern Deir al-Zor province are dominated by pro-Iranian forces and the Revolutionary Guard, notably in places like Abu Kamal and Mayadeen.
Nicholas A. Heras, a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Kurdistan 24 that the SDF is not designed to be an anti-Iran force.
“The purpose of the SDF, the mission that its fighters signed up for, is to remove ISIS from their homeland,” he stated.
“Yes, it is true that some of the local fighters of the SDF would like to keep Iran out too, especially those from Deir al-Zor, but that is not the strategic purpose of the SDF,” Heras continued.
He cautioned that an SDF attack on Abu Kamal while Syrian President Bashar al-Assad still holds the city alongside Iran-backed militias “is an invitation for trouble.”
“It would be much better for the SDF to wait and see if ISIS takes Abu Kamal from Assad and Iran first, then moves on the city to take out ISIS.”
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany