Three US-backed SDF militants shot dead amid ongoing protests in northern Syria

Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing local sources, reported that the incident occurred on the outskirts of Jadeed al-Kahit village, east of the provincial capital city of Raqqa, on Thursday when armed men riding a motorcycle approached a checkpoint manned by SDF militants and shot at them indiscriminately.

Local authorities cordoned off the area after the shooting attack and launched a manhunt to capture those responsible.

Meanwhile, people in Syria’s northeastern province of Dayr al-Zawr have staged protests against the SDF militants, renewing demands for their expulsion from the area.

According to Russia’s Sputnik news agency, sporadic clashes broke out between locals and the Kurdish-led militants in the rural Granich area of the province, after a villager was fatally shot by armed men affiliated with the SDF.

The report added that locals also demonstrated against SDF forces, blocking roads with burning tires and chanting slogans calling for the militants’ expulsion and an end to the US occupation of the region.

Security conditions have been deteriorating in the areas controlled by the US-led SDF in Syria’s northern and northeastern provinces of Raqqah, Hasakah, and Dayr al-Zawr amid ongoing raids and arrests of civilians by the US-sponsored militants.

Locals argue that the SDF’s constant raids and arrest campaigns have generated a state of frustration and instability, severely affecting their businesses and livelihoods.

Residents accuse the US-backed militants of stealing crude oil and failing to spend money on service sectors.

Local councils affiliated with the SDF have also been accused of financial corruption. They are said to be embezzling funds provided by donors, neglecting services, and not meeting the people’s basic needs.