(Zaman Al Wasl)- The U.S.-backed Syrian forces on Saturday took full control of a desert territory at the Iraqi border in northeastern Syria, local activists said Saturday.
The border line with Iraq and Deir Ezzor desert are under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, such a gain comes after weeks of major military campaign backed by the US and France.
Daesh lost most of its territory in Syria, but it still control some remote desert areas at the eastern bank of Euphrates River.
The SDF has been the main partner of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria, helping drive the jihadists out of swathes of northern and eastern Syria last year.
In relevant development, Human Rights Watch said Thursday in new report that the Syrian Democratic Council, a civilian authority operating in areas retaken from ISIS, and the Kurdish Autonomous Administration have confiscated residents’ identification documents and arbitrarily prevented them from leaving. Camp confinement has increased vulnerability to exploitation, separated families, and restricted their health care access. Both authorities are constituted primarily from the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
Human Rights Watch interviewed 24 Syrians displaced from Deir al-Zour and Raqqa, in person and remotely, who were in or had passed through four internal displacement camps – al-Hol, al-Sad, Mabrouka, and Ain Issa – between February 2017 and May 2018.
According to the United Nations, until May 2018, 125,642 residents from Raqqa and 248,658 from Deir al-Zour have been displaced by the fighting there. While displacement numbers have decreased, and camp populations have stabilized, according to aid groups and camp officials, the arbitrary restrictions on movement remain a concern.
Zaman Al Wasl
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