US-backed forces take control of strategic IS stronghold in eastern Syria

The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sunday announced they have gained control of a strategic town in northeastern Syria, near the border with Iraq, in its final push to drive out the Islamic State (IS).

HASAKAH (Kurdistan 24) - The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sunday announced they have gained control of a strategic town in northeastern Syria, near the border with Iraq, in its final push to drive out the Islamic State (IS).

The SDF, in an online statement, claimed to have liberated the IS-held town of Dashisha after a week-long campaign and heavy fighting

“Our forces are now three kilometers from the border with Iraq,” the SDF statement read.

The US-led coalition, formally known as the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), said that French artillery and French Air Force (FAF) warplanes supported the SDF operation in the southern Hasakah countryside, targeting several IS positions and vehicles in and around Dashisha.

Additionally, Iraqi forces struck IS positions around Dashisha with airstrikes and artillery shells.

According to an official statement by the Iranian-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as the Hashd al-Shaabi, their fighters shelled an IS gathering in Syria’s al-Hasakah Governorate.

Poor weather last week forced the SDF to pause its advance toward Dashisha, a lull in military activity that allowed IS militants to take advantage of the situation and launch a series of counter-attacks. The attacks, however, failed to materialize into any territorial gains for IS.

Earlier this week, SDF gained control of the villages of Darwish and Ameriya, around Dashisha, and seized an armored vehicle fitted with a Dushka submachine gun and carrying weaponry.

No accurate account of casualties has so far been announced.

With the liberation of Dashisha, IS militants are now contained to the strategic town of Hajeen in the Deir al-Zor countryside.

In May, the SDF announced it was relaunching efforts to clear areas in Syria where the extremist organization maintains a presence, including southeast Hasakah and the eastern oil-rich region of Deir al-Zor near the Iraqi border.

Editing by Nadia Riva