On January 12, a VBIED of ISIS targeted a headquarter of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) around Gharanij town in the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside, according to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq. The media outlet said that twenty SDF fighters were killed and seven vehicles of the SDF were destroyed in the VBIED attack.
Moreover, Amaq reported that ISIS snipers killed five fighters of the SDF during clashes inside Gharanij town. ISIS fighters killed six other SDF fighters after targeting their position northwest of Hajin town with an ATGM, according to the source.
Local sources said that the US-backed forces started evacuating the civilians from Gharanij through a safe route after capturing large parts of it. However, the SDF didn’t confirm these claims yet.
In a related development, opposition sources said that US-led coalition airstrikes killed twenty civilians and injured thirty others in Gharanij on January 11.
The US-led coalition stepped up its anti-ISIS bombing campaign in the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside after the terrorist group had repelled several attacks of the SDF.
From its side, ISIS claimed in an infographic released by the ISIS-linked newspaper al-Naba’a that its fighters killed ninety fighters of the SDF and captured four others during the last seven days.