Posted on 08/04/2018 9:36:56 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
SDF has cleared the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor of ISIS and secured the Iraq-Syria border.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters advancing on three fronts in the Operation Cizire Storm have merged in the village of Bogaz earlier today. SDF fighters have thus cleared the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor and established security at Iraq-Syria border.
The second phase of the Operation Cizire Storm was launched by SDF on June 4 with the ultimate goal of liberating Deir ez-Zor and Heseke countryside from ISIS.
SDF commander Bahoz Heseke stated that they have reached the Baghous town after Dashisha, thus securing the Iraq-Syria border and have fully liberated the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
Heseke remarked that SDF forces was in a good morale over the advance they have made, stressing that their struggle against the gangs will continue.
As part of the campaign, SDF forces advancing on three fronts have liberated an area of 120 km2 in the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor.
Civilians returning to the villages liberated by SDF are met by the fighters and provided with their needs.
A civilian who asked to be mentioned anonymous as his family members are still in an ISIS-occupied area, stated that they have suffered from the repression and atrocity of the gangs for years and witnessed cruel practices such as mass murder, beheading and torture.
The civilian said his son was beheaded right before his eyes on the grounds that he did not practice Islamic rules, underlininig that ISIS gangs have nothing to do with Islam and their acts will never be forgotten.
The civilian said they are very happy to return to the liberated areas, adding; “Everything is different here. In ISIS-held regions, there is only death and beheading while peace and democracy prevails in SDF areas. We hope SDF fighters will liberate other regions from the gangs in the soonest time and peace will be established in the region.”
This is a major accomplishment. Syria still has pockets of ISIS, but the escape routes for them are sealed except through Turkey.
Sorry, can’t tell the players without a scorecard. These are the primarily Kurdish good guys, are they not? Are they allies or opponents of the Syrian “government”? I lost track of this years ago.
SDF were not fighting against the Syrian government. They have always wanted a Syrian government that was democratic. A type of federation. In the beginning they were primarily Syrian Kurds and some Syriac Christians. They always fought for freedom from ISIS and the SDF grew out of that effort. When it became the SDF some Arab militias were added. They all tried to avoid direct conflict with Assad’s forces. The times when there were conflicts with Assad’s the conflict was caused by Iranian elements of Assad’s military. They did defend themselves when attacked. The US gave the SDF air cover.
They have been in open negotiations with Assad recently. Very little of that discussion has been made public. It appears it affects efforts to recover the remaining occupied portions of Syria. I suspect both Russia and the US will have a hand in shaping the final peace of the region.
I’ve followed this closely for the past 4 years, since before the Siege of Kobane, Sep/Oct 2014. I have a number of good friends there, who have helped me try to understand the reality on the ground there. I value those friendships and trust them completely.
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