ISIS recaptures 6 villages from regime near Albu Kamal

(Zaman Al Wasl)- ISIS fighters have recaptured 6 villages from the regime forces near the Iraqi border in eastern Deir Ezzor province, the group's official news agency said on Tuesday.

Daesh launched major attack on regime army and allied al-Quds militia late on Monday near Albu Kamal town, Amaq reported.

At least 7 militants from al-Quds Brigade were killed and 14 more were wounded, pro-regime news feeds said.

The Assad army and Kurdish militias have pushed Islamic State from much of the country’s north and east. The borders of ISIS has shrinked in Syria and Iraq to be a small pockets after fall of Raqqa, the de facto capital, Deir Ezzor and Albu Kamal.

Syrian Democratic Forces took most of the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor after fierce battles with ISIS last week.

On Monday, the U.S.-led Kurdish forces in Syria formed a joint military center with the Iraqi army to protect their common border region after ousting Islamic State militants, Reuters reported.

Commanders of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, met with Iraqi military leaders on Sunday. They “discussed protecting the Syrian-Iraqi border in the region adjacent to Deir Ezzor province, and how to finally eradicate Daesh mercenaries there,” the SDF said in a statement. Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

Last week, the SDF declared victory in its assault in Syria’s Deir Ezzor, which borders Iraq. The offensive focused on seizing territory east of the Euphrates river that bisects the oil-rich province.

The Kurdish-led SDF has been battling for months with the help of jets and special forces from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State (IS).

On the other side, Iraqi forces recaptured the last swathes of territory still under Islamic State control along the frontier with Syria on Saturday and secured the western desert. It marked the end of the war against IS, three years after they overran about a third of Iraq’s territory.

Iraqi forces who fought IS came from the army, air force, police, elite counter-terrorism forces as well as Shi‘ite and Sunni paramilitaries and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. They received key air support from the U.S.-led global coalition.

Zaman A Wasl