During March and April 2022, JFL documented protests calling for improving living conditions and facing raising prices. JFL also documented cases of killing civilians, victims of indiscriminate use of weapons and vengeances resulting from local conflicts. JFL monitored meetings of dignitaries from the governorate to express their stance towards many issues such as living conditions and the use of weapons, particularly in local conflicts.

Unidentified Bullets and Revenge Cases Resulting in Victims

• A person was killed in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor on 1 March 2022. In detail, the JFL researcher reported that the victim was killed in revenge due to a local conflict between two clans in the governorate’s countryside. A young man was killed in the town of Al-Keshkiya in the eastern countryside on March 14, 2022, also in revenge. These incidents have been repeated in the past two months. According to a JFL researcher, a person was killed by his cousins in Gharanij town in the eastern countryside, also in revenge. In the same incident, another man from Al- Bahra town, near Gharanij town, was killed during the armed clash.
• On 1 March 2022, an SDF member was killed in the town of Abu Hamam in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor after a dispute between him and several residents of the town developed into a shooting that killed him and injured at least one civilian. The SDF arrested many civilians after the incident and released them later.
• Family disputes and the use of weapons continued to cause more victims. On 14 April 2022, a young man was killed in the northern rural town of Al-Busayrah after a dispute with relatives. A woman was killed on 18 April 2022 in the town of Shuhail after being shot by a gun in a family dispute.
• On 2 March 2022, a person was shot dead in the town of Al-Sab’ha in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. JFL researcher reported that an IDP from the government control areas residing in the town of Al-Sab’ha was shot several times in front of his house and lost his life after that.
• A resident of Abu Hardoub in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor was killed after being shot on 24 March 2022. In detail, according to a JFL researcher, two people on a motorcycle fired several shots at the victim, killing him.
• On 4 April, residents of the village of Mohimeda, in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor, found an unidentified body. In the towns of Al-Sabha and Al-Bsaira, two people were killed by unknown assailants on 12 and 17 April 2022.

Attacks Claimed by ISIS

ISIS continues its attacks on military checkpoints, targeting the Autonomous Administration officials and civilians it accuses of collaborating with the current authority. Those attacks caused civilian casualties.

• JFL female researcher in the northern countryside of Deir Ezzor documented one person seriously injured after being shot. Also, the researcher reported that many shooters broke into the victim’s house and opened fire at him, injuring him in the chest and head. The researcher reported that ISIS later claimed responsibility[1] for the operation, accusing the victim of collaborating with the SDF. A person was killed near Jazrat Al-Bushams village in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor. ISIS claimed responsibility for the incident[2].
• ISIS claimed^[3] responsibility for an attack on two SDF checkpoints in the towns of Al-Sab’ha and Al-Zer on 12 March and claimed[4] an armed attack on 16 March in Badia of Deir Ezzor targeting SDF military personnel. JFL researchers were unable to confirm casualties among the SDF personnel.
• In Abu Khashab village in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor, ISIS claimed responsibility^[5] for a direct shooting of a group of people on 29 April 2022. In detail, JFL female researcher reported that masked men on motorcycles raided the house of the head of the Relations Office of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council during a banquet at his home, and fired directly, killing at least 5 people, including staff of the Autonomous Administration’s institutions.

Explosion of Mines, Remnants of War, and Security Raids

• JFL researcher reported a mine explosion from the remnants of war on 10 April 2022 in a village in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, injuring at least one woman.
• One child was killed and another injured by a mine explosion in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside. JFL researcher in the area reported that on 12 April, a child died of a mine explosion, injuring his brother, in the village of Darnach. The incident took place while the children were playing with scraps in the village.
• As part of ongoing efforts to reduce the risk of explosive devices used by the warring parties to this day, on 14 April, a special unit of the control forces removed an explosive device near the bank of the Euphrates River in the town of Al-Shuhail in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
• A security patrol of the control forces raided a house in the town of Al-Busaira. According to a JFL female researcher, shots of bullets were heard during the raid, which ended with the arrest of at least one person. About two weeks after this incident, on 23 April, at least one civilian was arrested in the town of Al-Busaira also without knowing the reasons.
• On 18 April 2022, the SDF continued raids in different areas of Deir Ezzor, arresting at least three people from the town of Al-Shuhail. Besides, another 24 civilians, at least, were arrested in the town during another arrest campaign. The area has been suffering large-scale arrests for months.

Protests in Different Areas

Hundreds of civilians staged demonstrations in various areas of Deir Ezzor to protest security and living conditions.

• Beginning of March 2022, teachers in various areas of Deir Ezzor announced an open strike. Additionally, the towns of Dhiban, Al-Kasrah, Zaghir, Sweidan, Tayana, and Al-Shaafah started an open strike[6]. Teachers called to improve monthly salaries, support education infrastructure, strengthen the role of organizations in supporting schools and appoint guards to protect schools from robberies.
• On March 1^st and 2^nd, protesters in Al-Busaira., in the northern countryside of Deir Ezzor, demanded that fuel be redistributed to eligible families after the distribution was halted for unknown reasons.
• A demonstration took place in the town of Abu Hamam in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor on 8 March, demanding the release of several detainees from the village. The JFL researcher in the area reported that the demonstrators demanded the release of a detainee who criticized military leaders in northern and eastern Syria.
• A meeting of people and elders from different regions was held in Deir Ezzor on 22 March 2022 in the presence of the former President of the Civil Council . The attendees called for improving the living situation, fair representation of various groups in the Autonomous Administration institutions, and an active representation.
• Protests, described by JFL researchers as large, took place in several areas of the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. The protests included roads blocked by burning tires. On 23^rd and 25^th March 2022, demonstrators demanded the combat of steeling of breeders’ allocations of fodder and fuel for livestock.
• Demonstrations continued in the Deir Ezzor areas in April. On 12 April, protests took place in the villages of Mohimida and Zaghir in the western Deir Ezzor countryside. And the following day extended to other villages in the western countryside, demanding the dismissal of civilian and military officials whom the demonstrators held responsible for the deterioration of living and security conditions.
• Two demonstrations took place in the villages of Al-Hissan and Al-Jiea in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor on 24 April to protest the shooting death of a member of the control forces. That was followed by a closure of the town municipality, after one day, by the residents in the town of Sweidan in the eastern countryside protesting against corruption.

Sporadic Decisions

JFL researchers observed publishing many decisions by the Autonomous Administration concerning detainees, organizations, and agriculture.

• The Autonomous Administration of Northeastern Syria issued resolution No. 54, allowing all traders to import fertilizer into northeastern Syria from all crossings.
• The General Council of The Autonomous Administration passed Law No. 5 of 2022, granting a public and comprehensive amnesty for all crimes committed before 26 March 2022.
• JFL researcher said that the Office of Humanitarian Affairs revoked the license of an organization operating in Deir Ezzor. And in detail, the license of Ihsan Relief and Development, which distributes food baskets in Deir Ezzor, was revoked. The reasons for that move were unclear to the JFL research.
• The Autonomous Administration opened the headquarters of the Civil Registry on 6 April 2022. This institute is the first of its kind ever since the region was out of the Syrian government’s control. It has not yet been possible to find out more details about the specific tasks of the new Civil Registry.
• The Eastern District Council in Deir Ezzor issued a decision to suspend the work of several bakeries in the towns of Abu Hamam, Hajin, Baghuz, and Gharanij due to the increased complaints against them by the people, at a time when voices opposed to the poor distribution and quality of bread are rising.
• The Ministry of Interior of the Autonomous Administration lifted the ban on northern and eastern Syria by Resolution No. 5 of 10 April 2022. The Autonomous Administration had imposed a partial ban after several attacks on military headquarters, most notably the attack on Gweran prison in Al-Hasaka.

[1] ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through an announcement published by the weekly Al-Naba electronic newspaper on the issue 329 (P8)

[2] ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through an announcement published by the weekly Al-Naba electronic newspaper on the issue 332 (P10)

[3] ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through an announcement published by the weekly Al-Naba electronic newspaper on the issue 330 – (P7)

[4] Ibid

[5] ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through an announcement published by the weekly Al-Naba electronic newspaper on the issue 336 – (P9)

[6] Teachers’ Strike in Deir Ezzor.. Reasons and Recommendations, May 2022.