US forces conducted a large-scale air assault early this Monday near Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria. The Syrian news agency "SANA" reported that the US forces "abducted several civilians" from the city of al-Busayra in the eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside. It added that US aircraft carried out the assault with the support of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, accompanied by heavy and indiscriminate gunfire that resulted in the deaths of three civilians, all from the same family.
For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights noted that "three people were killed and others arrested" during the "airborne operation of the international coalition" against ISIS in the Deir ez-Zor countryside after midnight last night. It added that the operation was followed by warnings that the area was completely besieged via loudspeakers, where individuals sought by the forces were asked to surrender.
The Observatory also reported sounds of gunfire and explosions, whose cause remains unclear as to whether they resulted from an exchange of fire or solely from the raiding forces, but indicated several individuals were arrested on charges of dealing with and belonging to ISIS. SANA mentioned that US helicopters had also conducted an air assault on December 7th, with "support" from a group of Syrian Democratic Forces in "some houses" in the town of al-Shuhail and abducted several civilians, taking them to an unknown location.
