The provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Hasakah and Raqqa, and the Manbij area in the countryside of Aleppo, which are under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have been subject to a series of attacks by the Islamic State (IS) over the past few weeks. These attacks, carried out by IS-affiliated cells and locals who previously fought with IS, are targeting civilians and SDF members in those areas

IS has stepped up its operations in early 2020 after having faded away since losing its last strongholds in eastern Deir ez-Zor on March 23, 2019. These operations included directly attacking checkpoints and patrols, assassinating SDF members or collaborators, and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the roads.

IS activity in the areas in the east of the Euphrates is not limited to specific geographical points, but rather stretches across the provinces of Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor, and mostly focus on SDF-controlled areas in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, specifically the area extending between the cities of al-Suwar and al-Busayrah, as well as the towns of al-Zer, al-Hawaij, al-Shehail and Darnaj.

Orabi Orabi, a researcher on Islamic groups, told Al-Monitor, “IS follows a strategy of striking and draining during the stage of weakening [its opponents]. It adopts two methods of attacks: The first relies on lone wolves, i.e., one person who plans and executes the attack without referring to the leadership, but this rarely happens in Syria. IS in Syria usually resorts to the second method, which is relying on organized cells, especially in SDF-controlled areas.”