File image.
Tribal fighters backed by the United States launched an attack against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies in the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor on December 3 as al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) escalated its attack in the northern part of the country.
The attack in Deir Ezzor targeted the only seven towns under the control of the Syrian government on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.
The Deir Ezzor Military Council of the Syrian Democratic Forces said that the attack was launched in response to calls from locals in the towns and to counter the growing threat of ISIS. However, these remain mere claims and the main reason is to secure U.S. bases located in the nearby Conoco gas plant and al-Omar oil fields.
While the council said that its fighters entered the towns of Salihiyya, Tabiyya, Hatla, Hasham, Marrat, Mazlum and Husayniyya, heavy clashes are reportedly still ongoing in the region.
The U.S.-led coalition provided the tribal fighters with close air support, according to video footage posted to social networks.
The surprise attack in Deir Ezzor came amid an escalation by HTS and its allies in northern Syria. The militants renewed their attacks on the SAA in the northern Hama countryside in the framework of the so-called Operation Deterrence of Aggression, which began last week.
The militants stormed several towns, including Qalaat Al-Madiq, Suran, Halfaya and Maardis. However, they failed to break through the main defense line of the SAA.
Meanwhile in the eastern countryside of Hama, the SAA is reportedly advancing. The army is said to have recaptured the key town of Ithriyah as a part of a plan to reach the town of al-Safira in the southern Aleppo countryside where thousands of civilians and military personnel are besieged by the militants.
The Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria said late on December 2 that over a hundred militants of HTS and its allies were killed by Russian and Syrian strikes within the last 24 hours.
Overall, the situation in Syria remains complicated, with all sides attempting to take advantage of the HTS-led offensive in the north. The main beneficiaries are, however, not the militants themselves, but rather Turkey, the U.S. and Israel.
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