US-sponsored and Kurdish-led militants from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have opened fire for the second straight day at people protesting their atrocious activities and demanding their withdrawal from Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.
Local sources, requesting not to be named, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that hundreds of people took to the streets in the towns of al-Busayrah, Masheikh, al-Tayyana as well as Tell al-Daman, al-Namliyah and Tayyeb Al Faall villages on Sunday in a public show of dissent over the presence of US-backed forces, rising cases of abduction and assassination in their areas and plunder of Syria’s oil wealth by the US-sponsored militants.
The protesters closed the main roads to their areas, burning tires and demanding the expulsion of SDF militants from their hometowns.
The sources added that the Kurdish militants fired indiscriminately at demonstrators in al-Tayyana to disperse the protest. There were no immediate reports about possible casualties.
On Saturday, dozens of people staged demonstrations in the towns of al-Shuhayl, al-Sour and al-Hissan as well as Mweileh village against the presence of SDF militants in their areas.
Local residents, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Kurdish-led forces opened fire on protesters in Hissan, injuring a number of them.
The SDF illegally transports Dayr al-Zawr’s crude oil to neighboring Hasakeh province in Syria’s northeast, a move that has angered local people.
The United States has long been providing the SDF, a Kurdish alliance, with arms and militants, calling them a key partner in the purported fight against the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.
Many observers, however, see the support in the context of Washington's plans to carve out a foothold in the Arab country.
Such support has also angered Washington's NATO ally, Turkey, which views militants of the People's Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The PKK has been engaged in a destructive war inside Turkey for decades.