BEIRUT/BAGHDAD: Syrian Kurdish special forces have joined an offensive against Daesh militants in eastern Syria, a commander said, after the fighters recovered ground from US-backed forces in a fierce counter attack.
Daesh launched the assault against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Deir Ezzor region near the Iraqi border on Friday. Iraqi Shiite militias reinforced their side of the frontier in response and Iraq’s military said it was ready to take on any militants who tried to cross.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said around 70 SDF fighters were killed in the assault which Daesh launched under cover of a sandstorm and drew on suicide bombers and female militants. The SDF says it lost 14 fighters.
A spokesman for the US-led coalition said Daesh had been able to regain some ground but the SDF would “come back with coalition support.”
An SDF commander attributed the setback partly to the relative inexperience of the Arab SDF forces which have carried out much of the fighting against hardened Daesh militants in Deir Ezzor.
While the Arab fighters of the Deir Ezzor Military Council had been able to make advances to a “certain level,” Daesh is resisting even more fiercely as the offensive closes in on its last pockets.
This required the deployment of special forces from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which spearheads the SDF, and its female affiliate the YPJ.
“We were forced to draw on experienced fighters from the YPG and YPJ,” the commander said. “They will be relied on to complete the campaign,” the commander said.
The fighting is the latest phase of efforts by the US-led coalition and the SDF to clear Daesh from its last footholds east of the Euphrates River following last year’s defeat of the group in Raqqa, its Syrian headquarters.
“This battle is give and take sometimes like most military fights and we have been saying from the beginning, this will be a difficult struggle,” Col. Sean Ryan, the coalition’s spokesman, said in an email to Reuters.
“Daesh is using experienced foreign fighters with nothing to lose and the SDF will come back with coalition support and continue to degrade and destroy Daesh,” he added, referring to another acronym for Daesh.
UN aid chief Mark Lowcock told the UN Security Council on Monday up to 15,000 people remain within the Daesh-controlled area and around 7,000 people have in recent weeks been displaced by fighting from Hajjin, the last major stronghold of Daesh in Syria on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group that includes mostly Shiite militias, said it had reinforced along much of the border with Syria after the SDF was pushed back by Daesh.
“The Iraqi-Syrian border was not secure before. Our operations have fixed that completely from Rabia (in the northwest) to Tanf” in the southwest near the Jordanian-Iraqi-Syria border and close to a US military base, the PMF’s website quoted a senior commander as saying.
An Iraqi military spokesman confirmed the PMF, which were formally absorbed into the security forces earlier this year, had reinforced on the border. He also said the army was prepared for any attempt by militants to cross.
“We have units behind the border, including artillery, ready to deal with any attempts by terrorist elements to infiltrate ... there is also aerial surveillance,” Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool said.
Helicopters dropped leaflets to Iraqi forces and tribes warning them of attempts by Daesh fighters to cross the border in retreat from their fight with the SDF, the interior ministry’s security media center said.
Syrian Kurds boost fight against Daesh in east after setback
Syrian Kurds boost fight against Daesh in east after setback
Aoun hails disarmament progress: ‘Lebanon achieved in 1 year what it had not seen in 4 decades’
- President Joseph Aoun highlights achievements during first year in office despite many challenges
- Army announced this month it had successfully disarmed Hezbollah in the south of the country
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun confirmed on Tuesday that the country’s armed forces “are now the sole operational authority south of the Litani River, despite doubts, accusations of treason, insults and slander.”
Speaking at the Presidential Palace in Baabda during a traditional New Year meeting with members of the diplomatic corps and the heads of international missions, he highlighted what he viewed as Lebanon’s achievements since he took office on Jan. 9, 2025.
The government’s approval in August and September last year of plans to bring all weapons in the country under state control, and ensure the authority of the state across all Lebanese territory using its own forces, was “no minor detail,” he said.
“Lebanon achieved in one year what it had not seen in four decades,” he added, as he recalled taking office in a “deeply wounded state” that has suffered decades of institutional paralysis and economic crises.
Despite campaigns of distortion, intimidation and misinformation, and Israel’s failure to abide by the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, the changed reality on the ground over the past 12 months speaks for itself, he said.
“The truth is what you see, not what you hear,” Aoun said, pointing out that “not a single bullet was fired from Lebanon during my first year in office, except for two specific incidents recorded last March, the perpetrators of which were swiftly arrested by official authorities.”
The army carried out “extensive operations” to clear large areas of the country of illegal weapons regardless of who controlled them, the president continued, in line with the terms of the Nov. 27 ceasefire agreement with Israel, which he described as “an accord Lebanon respects and that was unanimously endorsed by the country’s political forces.”
These efforts reflected a determination to spare the country a return to the “suicidal conflicts that have come at a heavy cost in the past,” he added.
Aoun stressed his commitment during the second year of his presidency to restoring control of all Lebanese territory to the exclusive authority of the state, securing the release of prisoners, and the reconstruction of war-ravaged areas.
He said that southern Lebanon, like all of the country’s international borders, would fall under the sole control of the Lebanese Armed Forces, putting a definitive end to any attempts “to draw us into the conflicts of others, even as those same parties pursue dialogue, negotiations and compromises in pursuit of their own national interests.”
The Lebanese Army Command announced early this month the completion of the first phase of its plans to disarm nonstate groups south of the Litani River. The government is now awaiting an army report next month detailing its next steps.
Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, the army’s commander, has said that the plan “does not have a specific time frame for completing this phase, which encompasses all Lebanese regions.”
A Lebanese official confirmed to Arab News that the army now has exclusive control of territory south of the Litani River, and no other armed forces or military factions have a presence there.
Aoun’s affirmation of his determination to “stay on course” came two days after Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem gave a sharply worded speech that delivered both implicit and explicit rebukes aimed at the president and Foreign Minister Youssef Raji.
His criticisms focused on their efforts to take control of weapons north of the Litani River, following a declaration by Aoun that “the time for arms is over,” a position that Hezbollah vehemently rejects in what appears to be an attempt to derail the gradual, phased disarmament strategy embraced by the Lebanese government and the international community.
Progress in the efforts of the military to take control of all weapons in the country hinges on securing vital logistical support for the country’s armed forces, a condition tied to the International Conference for Supporting the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces, which is due to take place on March 5 in Paris.
Aoun told the diplomats that the conference is the result of efforts led by the international Quintet Committee supporting Lebanon: the US, Saudi Arabia, France, Qatar and Egypt.
Archbishop Paolo Borgia, the papal ambassador to Lebanon, speaking in his role as dean of the diplomatic corps, said that the current crisis in the country serves “as a harsh test” that must remind political leaders of their duty to prevent history from repeating itself.
He called for respect for all electoral processes as a vital part of any nation’s democratic life, and for “genuine peace without weapons, one that can disarm enemies through the convincing power of goodness and the strength of meeting and dialogue.”
He added: “Those holding the highest public offices must give special attention to rebuilding political relationships peacefully, both nationally and globally, a process grounded in mutual trust, honest negotiations and faithful adherence to commitments made.”
