Sources told Al Jazeera that renewed clashes between fighters from Arab tribes on the one hand and the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the other, in the vicinity of the town of Al-Tayyana in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor (eastern Syria), while Ankara is closely following the situation.
The developments come a day after the Akidat tribe, one of Syria's largest Arab tribes, demanded U.S. guarantees of calm.
Al Jazeera sources added that the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (whose backbone is Kurdish fighters), launched a raid and search campaign that affected several villages and towns, coinciding with the launch of flares that illuminated the skies of the area.
The commander of the Northern Brigade of the Syrian Democratic Forces said that what he described as "the process of strengthening security" is continuing towards the rest of the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor to reach Baghouz on the border with Iraq.
Last week, clashes erupted in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor province after the US-backed SDF arrested the commander of its Deir Ezzor Military Council, Ahmed al-Khabil, prompting local fighters loyal to him to launch attacks on it that quickly developed into clashes joined by Arab tribes to which residents of the area extending to the border with Iraq to the east, and resulted in the tribes taking control of large SDF strongholds.
The fighting later spread to the countryside of Raqqa (north) and Hasaka (northeast) governorates adjacent to Deir Ezzor province, and tribes took control of a number of SDF positions there.
Sources in the Turkish Ministry of Defense said that Ankara is closely following the developments in the city of Deir Ezzor, describing the clashes between Arab tribes and the Syrian Democratic Forces for days as an indication of the correctness of Turkey's path towards the PKK and its affiliated organizations.
The Turkish Defense Ministry has said that the PKK and its extensions do not pose a threat to Turkey alone, but to the peoples of the entire region.
The ministry's statement added that the events that took place in Deir Ezzor are the reaction of the people of the region who gathered to protect their rights and lands in the face of a new regime that the Kurdistan Workers' Party and its extensions are trying to establish there.
The statement also expressed Turkey's hope that its allies and friends would stop their support for the PKK and its affiliated organizations.
Guarantees and calming
On Wednesday, Anadolu Agency quoted Ibrahim al-Hafl, head of the Akidat tribe, as saying that the tribes are demanding US guarantees of calm with the SDF, as well as restructuring their military council to be led by officers from the Arab-populated region.
According to the statement, Al-Havel authorized the "Citizens for a Safe America" organization to convey the demands of the tribes of Deir Ezzor (eastern Syria) to the US administration and Congress.
The demands, according to the same source, included an immediate ceasefire, the evacuation of the bodies of those killed in the recent clashes, the entry of aid, and the imposition of the presence of the American guarantor on the ground to prevent violations of the supposed truce. It also included negotiating with the American side directly, and ensuring that the United States protects the Hefl and his leaders.
The SDF had declared Ibrahim al-Havel wanted after the expansion of clashes with tribes and considered him a cause of "sedition" in the region.
Washington sent senior officials who met on Sunday with leaders from the warring sides and agreed to "consider local grievances" and "de-escalate violence as soon as possible", but no agreement was announced at the time.
Control of the oil- and gas-rich province of Deir Ezzor, divided by the Euphrates River, is shared by Russian-backed Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias on the one hand, and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the other.