BEIRUT: A powerful Syrian Kurdish militia announced on Sunday it had cleared Daesh group fighters from key territory east of the winding Euphrates River.
In a surprising announcement, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) also said the victory in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province came with logistical and air support from Russia, as well as the US-led coalition, its traditional backer.
The YPG was spearheading a US-backed offensive to oust Daesh from territory east of the Euphrates River, which cuts diagonally across Deir Ezzor, while rival Russian-backed Syrian troops battled Daesh on the western bank.
It appears to the first time Syria’s Kurds acknowledge receiving direct Russian support.
On Sunday, YPG officials met with a Russian military delegation in a town on the eastern bank of Deir Ezzor province, according to the Kurdish-run ANHA news agency.
“The eastern countryside of the city has been fully liberated from Islamic State... with the international coalition and Russia’s support,” YPG spokesman Nuri Mahmoud said in a statement referring to Daesh.
“We thank the international coalition and the Russian forces for their air, logistical, advisory support and coordination on the ground.”
Mahmoud said the YPG “hoped for an increase in support and the provision of air defense and required cover.”
Daesh jihadists once held most of oil-rich Deir Ezzor, but now control only a tiny sliver of the province, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
On Sunday, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said Daesh still held several villages in the province, on both banks of the Euphrates River.
The YPG formed the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an Arab-Kurdish alliance that ousted Daesh from swathes of northern and eastern Syria, with help from the US-led coalition.
In September, the SDF began its assault on Daesh positions in the eastern half of Deir Ezzor province, as Russian-backed government troops squeezed Daesh in the western half.
The SDF accused Moscow of striking its forces several times during the drive, which makes Sunday’s announcement of Russian support all the more surprising.
Last week, the White House said it would be making “adjustments” to its military support of militia in Syria.
The US-led coalition has provided air support, weapons, and advice to the YPG and SDF in their push against Daesh.
Kurds announce Daesh losses in east Syria with US, Russia help
Kurds announce Daesh losses in east Syria with US, Russia help
Syrian government and SDF agree to de-escalate after Aleppo violence
- Turkiye views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement
DAMASCUS: Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed to de-escalate on Monday evening in the northern city of Aleppo, after a wave of attacks that both sides blamed on each other left at least two civilians dead and several wounded.
Syria’s state news agency SANA, citing the defense ministry, said the army’s general command issued an order to stop targeting the SDF’s fire sources. The SDF said in a statement later that it had issued instructions to stop responding to attacks by Syrian government forces following de-escalation contacts.
HIGHLIGHTS
• SDF and Syrian government forces blame each other for Aleppo violence
• Turkiye threatens military action if SDF fails integration deadline
• Aleppo schools and offices closed on Tuesday following the violence
The Syrian health ministry said two people were killed and several were wounded in shelling by the SDF on residential neighborhoods in the city. The injuries included two children and two civil defense workers. The violence erupted hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Damascus that the SDF appeared to have no intention of honoring a commitment to integrate into the state’s armed forces by an agreed year-end deadline.
Turkiye views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement.
Integrating the SDF would mend Syria’s deepest remaining fracture, but failing to do so risks an armed clash that could derail the country’s emergence from 14 years of war and potentially draw in Turkiye, which has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.
Both sides have accused the other of stalling and acting in bad faith. The SDF is reluctant to give up autonomy it won as the main US ally during the war, which left it with control of Daesh prisons and rich oil resources.
SANA, citing the defense ministry, reported earlier that the SDF had launched a sudden attack on security forces and the army in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods of Aleppo, resulting in injuries.
The SDF denied this and said the attack was carried out by factions affiliated with the Syrian government. It said those factions were using tanks and artillery against residential neighborhoods in the city.
The defense ministry denied the SDF’s statements, saying the army was responding to sources of fire from Kurdish forces. “We’re hearing the sounds of artillery and mortar shells, and there is a heavy army presence in most areas of Aleppo,” an eyewitness in Aleppo told Reuters earlier on Monday. Another eyewitness said the sound of strikes had been very strong and described the situation as “terrifying.”
Aleppo’s governor announced a temporary suspension of attendance in all public and private schools and universities on Tuesday, as well as government offices within the city center.
