HTS-led Syria government captures Deir ez-Zor city from Kurdish SDF

Syria’s new government has announced the liberation of Deir ez-Zor city from Kurdish militias in the eastern province, as the former opposition continues to capture more territory throughout the country.

According to a telegram post by Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham’s (HTS) Directorate of Military Operations, Commander Hassan Abdul Ghani stated that “our fighters continue to advance in the districts and settlements of Deir ez-Zor province after taking control of the city centre, as well as the western and eastern countryside”.

Earlier this week, the late Deir ez-Zor Military Council – formerly part of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) coalition in that eastern province – dramatically abandoned the SDF, announcing its departure from its ranks.

Unrest by local Syrians in Deir ez-Zor then pushed the Kurdish militias out of the main city, with the SDF deciding to withdraw from the area. That consequently made way for the new Syrian HTS-led interim government to move into the city, announcing its liberation from years of being held by the SDF and being fought over by various factions.

Following those developments, HTS-led security forces are reported to currently be carrying out an offensive against the SDF in other areas and the countryside of Deir ez-Zor province, in events which appear to be the result of the new Syrian government’s aim to capture and unify the entirety of the country.

In the north and north-east of Syria, where the heartland of the Syrian Kurdish militias lies, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) has also been advancing against Kurdish positions.

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