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Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of crisis in Syria.
Fight Against ISIS: The battles against ISIS in Deir Ezzor and Raqqa advanced over the weekend as pro-government forces claim to have recaptured al-Mayadeen, and U.S.-backed forces announced their final push against militants in Raqqa city.
Citing Russia’s defense ministry, the Associated Press said on Saturday that Syrian troops fully freed al-Mayadeen, in Deir Ezzor province, from ISIS militants. An unidentified Syrian military source confirmed the advance to Reuters, saying that ISIS suffered a “collapse” in their ranks. The ISIS command structure is believed to be based in the city, which is on the Euphrates River near the border with Iraq.
The advance came after ISIS launched a triple car-bomb attack in eastern Syria on Thursday, killing at least 50 people, including internally displaced civilians and Kurdish security personnel, Reuters said.
On Sunday, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched the “final phase” of their battle against ISIS in Raqqa after hundreds of militants surrendered, the SDF said in a statement, adding that the latest push was aimed to drive the few hundred remaining ISIS fighters from their positions inside the city. The announcement came after more than 3,000 civilians and some 275 Syrian ISIS fighters and their families, were evacuated from the city Saturday night under a deal negotiated between local officials from the Raqqa Civil Council and ISIS fighters.
Cease-fire in South Damascus: A cease-fire went into effect at noon on Thursday in a rebel enclave south of Damascus, after three opposition groups agreed to a deal brokered by Russia and Egypt in Cairo.
The exact area covered by the deal remains unclear, but Islamist rebel groups control a pocket of three villages – Yalda, Babila and Beit Sahem – adjacent to ISIS-held territory south of the capital. The three villages have been under total or partial siege since 2013. An estimated 42,500 civilians are still living there.
The Syrian government did not sign the deal. According to Mohammed Alloush, the political leader of Jaish al-Islam, his group is party to the agreement, along with Jaish al-Ababil and Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis, linked to the Palestinian Hamas group.
Turkey Expands In Northern Syria: On Saturday, a new batch of Turkish troops and armored vehicles arrived on the Turkish side of the Syria border ahead of the second phase of deployment in northern Syria, according to Reuters.
Ibrahim al-Idlibi, a military adviser in the Free Syrian Army, told Reuters that “nearly 200 troops are now stationed in areas that separate territory under control of Kurdish groups and opposition groups.” Citing unidentified witnesses, Reuters added that Turkish bulldozers were working “around the clock,” setting up observation posts and digging fortifications.
The Speaker of Syria’s People’s Assembly Hammouda Sabbagh said on Sunday: “The people’s assembly condemns the Turkish flagrant aggression on the Syrian territory in Idlib province, which constitutes a blatant aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and a flagrant violation of international law and norms.”
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