Rare clashes broke out Sunday (April 29th) between Syrian regime forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Deir Ezzor province, killing a total of 15 combatants, AFP reported.
Nine pro-regime fighters and six members of the Arab-Kurd alliance were killed in the clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
State media said the regime seized control of four villages in the province, where the SDF has been fighting the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS).
The SDF later recaptured three of the four villages, the Observatory said.
SDF and Syrian regime forces are conducting separate offensives against ISIS in Deir Ezzor, but both sides have largely avoided running into each other.
SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali reported "exchange of gunfire" between both sides.
"The Syrian regime army along with its militias started to attack our forces in Deir Ezzor countryside along the Euphrates River," the alliance said in a statement.
