Iraq News

SDF launches 'final' battle against ISIS in east Syria

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced Tuesday (May 1st) they are launching the final stage of their battle to expel the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) from its desert holdouts in eastern Syria, AFP reported.

Backed by the international coalition, the Arab-Kurd alliance has driven the extremists out of large parts of the country.

But ISIS fighters have retained a presence in a few parts of Syria, including in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor near the border with Iraq.

The SDF's Deir Ezzor Military Council on Tuesday said it would press its efforts to oust ISIS from remaining areas.

"Our forces with the forces of the international coalition have started the last stage" of the anti-ISIS campaign, it said in a statement.

ISIS holds dozens of villages in eastern Syria, from the eastern banks of the Euphrates River that cuts across Deir Ezzor to the border with Iraq, and in the south of the adjacent province of al-Hasakeh.

"Our forces will liberate these areas and secure the Iraqi border once and for all," the military council announced at the al-Tanak oilfield east of the Euphrates.

Deir Ezzor Military Council head Ahmed Abu Khawla told AFP there was a "shared operations room with Iraqi forces".

The coalition including French forces had increased their numbers and would support the SDF in "the final stage" of their operation, he said.

French special operations forces arrived in Syria last month to help boost efforts against ISIS, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said last week.

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