Pro-government fighters attack areas of U.S.-backed fighters in east Syria. 2 killed

A U.S. military vehicle drives south of the northeastern city of Qamishli, on Oct. 26. 2019 likely heading to the oil-rich Deir el-Zour area where there are oil fields, or possibly to another base nearby, as it passes by a poster showing Syrian President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)

QAMISHLI, Syria -

Violence surged in opposition-held areas of Syria on Wednesday as government-backed fighters killed at least two people in rare violence in the east, while a truck bomb exploded in the northern city of Azaz, killing nine people, the main U.S.-backed force in the war-torn country and an opposition war monitor said.

Fighters backed by the Syrian government and Iran attacked areas controlled by U.S.-backed fighters in the country's east, killing at least two people and wounding others, the main U.S.-backed force in the war-torn country said Wednesday.

To the west, a truck bomb exploded Wednesday evening in the northern city of Azaz, which is controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, killing nine people and wounding 11, the opposition's Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Azaz, which has witnessed such bombings in the past. Turkey has launched three major cross-border operations in Syria since 2016 and controls some Syrian territory in the north.

The clashes in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq, came amid high tension in the region following last week’s killings of a top military commander of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group in Beirut and the leader of the Palestinian Hamas group Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Israel was blamed for both attacks, and Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate.

The clashes in eastern Syria are the most intense in nearly a year in areas where hundreds of U.S. troops have been deployed since 2015 to help in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Syrian government forces and Iran-backed fighters are deployed on the west bank of the Euphrates River in Deir el-Zour, while members of the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces control the east banks of the river.

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The SDF said in a statement that “Syrian regime-backed mercenaries” attacked the villages of Dhiban, Latwa and Abu Hamam starting late Tuesday. It added that fighting was ongoing Wednesday as the SDF tries to bring the situation under control.

Dhiban lies a few kilometres (miles) from the al-Omar oil field that houses SDF fighters and U.S. troops at a base there.

Kurdish-led authorities imposed an open-ended curfew in areas they control on the east bank of the Euphrates, saying that anyone that violates the order will be referred to judicial authorities.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the SDF brought reinforcements to the area as the fighting continued Wednesday.

The SDF and the Observatory said the clashes and shelling left two people dead and five others wounded.

Pro-government media outlets said the attacks were carried out by local Arab tribesmen against the SDF, saying that several people were wounded in government-held areas.

On Monday, a rocket attack on a base housing U.S. troops in western Iraq left several American personnel wounded.

The rocket attack came days after a strike near a base of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia southwest of Baghdad killed at least one militant and wounded two others.

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The attack on SDF fighters comes days after an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias dubbed “the Islamic Resistance” resumed rocket attacks on U.S. military bases in the country and in eastern Syria.

Associated Press writer Ghaith al-Sayed contributed to this report from Idlib, Syria.