PARIS — In the eastern Deir e-Zor town of Ghranij, a 25-year vendetta was put to rest last month. Through efforts by a number of clan sheikhs and notables in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)-controlled area, on November 10 the al-Khalifa al-Nayef and al-Aghdab al-Hamada families of the al-Shaytat clan finally agreed to a reconciliation agreement.
But even as one ember of clan conflict was extinguished in Deir e-Zor, another was ignited in Inkhil, a city in the regime-held northern Daraa countryside, hundreds of kilometers to the southwest. There, a young man, Rami al-Waked, was killed on November 7. His family laid blame for his death with “evildoers and bandits from the al-Doukhi family” in a statement.
“The family of the murder victim, Rami Awad al-Waked, and the entire al-Eid family, declare that everyone who took part in the treachery is a legitimate target, and everyone who harbors one of the criminals is an accomplice,” it concluded.
The identities of Rami’s individual killers were not known, but his family accused young men from the al-Doukhi family because of what began as a recent dispute between children from the two families, and turned into a brawl between young men. Ultimately, fighters from a military group commanded by Abdul Hakim al-Waked—affiliated with the 8th Brigade led by former opposition commander Ahmed al-Awda—attacked and beat a young man from the al-Doukhi family. After that, Rami al-Waked was murdered.