US-backed militants seize city in Syria – media

The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces has taken full control of the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, according to Reuters

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed military coalitionn dominated by Kurdish groups, has seized the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, according to Reuters.

Two security sources based in eastern Syria have reportedly told the outlet that the SDF had taken full control of the city by Friday afternoon.

SDF forces also reportedly control several neighborhoods in Aleppo that are encircled by islamist insurgents.

Activists from a local media outlet with contacts in the city told Reuters that Syrian government forces and Iraqi fighters backed by Iran had withdrawn from Deir ez-Zor before the SDF stormed in.

The SDF was reportedly also advancing towards the Syrian town of Albukamal, an Iraqi security source claimed, noting that the border-city could be seized within the next 24 hours.

The SDF advance follows last week’s surprise assault by militant forces in Syria, which was led by the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra. The insurgents have driven back government forces and captured significant chunks of territory in Aleppo and Idlib and surrounded the key city of Hama on Thursday. They are advancing towards Syria’s third-largest city, Homs, according to media reports on Friday.

The general commander of SDF, Mazloum Abdi, reportedly said on Friday they have been in touch with the HTS.

“We have contact with Tahrir al-Sham through many channels, typically regarding the protection of our people in Aleppo. Apparently, we have never clashed with them,” Abdi told journalists during a press conference on Friday, as quoted by Rudaw Media Network.

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A broad coalition of Kurdish and Arab militia forces, formed in 2015, SDF has battled Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists, capturing land held by the latter in eastern Syria.

SDF is opposed by Türkiye, which considers the group to have direct links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara regards as a terrorist group.

At the end of 2019, groups affiliated with SDF reportedly boasted to have around 40,000 fighters in their ranks.

The US reportedly has around 900 troops advising the Syrian Kurdish forces.

This week, a US official told The War Zone website that the US military has backed an SDF offensive operation around Deir el-Zor. “They requested support and we supported them,” the unnamed official stated, declining to provide any further detail.