US-backed militia to participate in Dayr al-Zawr offensive: US cmdr.
A high-ranking American military commander says the US-backed militia from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will take part in the operation to retake the troubled eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr from the extremists.
Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters via a video teleconference from Baghdad that the final battle against the terrorists would take place in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, including Dayr al-Zawr, 450 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus.
Townsend added that US officials considered the SDF, which is a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), as a suitable force for the battle, even though the coalition did not have heavy weaponry such as tanks and fighter jets.
The US commander added that the idea to include the SDF in Dayr al-Zawr battle stemmed from territorial gains that the group had scored in the northern cities of Manbij, Tabqa and Raqqah.
On August 12, 2016, SDF forces managed to capture the city of Manbij from Daesh terrorists.
US-backed Syrian militias announced on May 10 that they had fully seized the town of Tabqa and Syria’s largest dam from Daesh terrorists.
On June 6, the SDF said they had launched an operation aimed at pushing Daesh out of Raqqah. The US-backed fighters said on Friday that they had removed Daesh terrorists from Raqqah's Old City.
“Our forces today seized full control of the Old City in Raqqah after clashes with Daesh,” Talal Sello, a spokesman for the SDF, told AFP.
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