Syria captures final Islamic State stronghold, turns attention to Kurds

Syrian forces have recaptured the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, Islamic State’s last urban stronghold in the war-torn country, following a three-year siege -but a new conflict is emerging across the border in Iraq.

“Syria’s army in cooperation with allied forces liberated the entire city of Deir al-Zour from Isis after killing a large number of the terrorists, among them foreigners,” the Syrian Ministry of Defence said today in a statement published by CNN.

Isis still controls parts of Deir al-Zour province, which borders Iraq, where Iraqi forces are waging a separate offensive against the militant group.

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According to Al Jazeera English, the Syrian army, backed by Iran and Russia, and Kurdish-led forces, supported by the US, “are in a race to retake the rest of the eastern province”.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly has his sights on territory held by Kurdish-led forces including eastern oil fields, “risking a new confrontation that could draw the United States in more deeply and complicate Russian diplomacy”, Reuters reported this week.

Despite their common goal of defeating Isis, Reuters says, there is a rivalry and a “fault line” emerging between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian government.

Questions have also been raised over the continued support of the Kurds by the US following the capture of the disputed city of Kirkuk by Iraqi forces last month.