Syria government forces take town, IS stronghold in east

Beirut, Oct 14 (AP) Syrian government forces and theirallies today said they seized the town of Mayadeen, an IslamicState stronghold in the country...
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Beirut, Oct 14 (AP) Syrian government forces and theirallies today said they seized the town of Mayadeen, an IslamicState stronghold in the country's east, in a major gain in therace for territories previously held by the militant group.

The announcement came as US-backed Syrian DemocraticForces said they were in the "final" battle for control ofRaqqa, the IS' de facto capital and the symbol of the group'sreign of terror.

However, officials with the Kurdish-led SDF said it couldbe hours or days before IS is uprooted from the city, to thenorth of Mayadeen.

Over the past months, Mayadeen had become a refugee forthe IS leadership from Syria and Iraq as its self-proclaimedcaliphate crumbled.

The town, on the western bank of the Euphrates River, wasalso a major node in the race for control of the oil-richeastern Deir el-Zour province that straddles the border withIraq.

SDF has steadily been making a bid for areas in theprovince, securing territory to the east of the river as theUS-backed offensive focused on the Iraq border area, stillcontrolled by IS.

Washington fears further advances by Syrian governmentforces could help Iran, which backs militias fightingalongside the Syrian military, expand its influence across theregion by securing a land route extending from Iraq, Syria andLebanon, all the way to Israel.

As the Syrian government launched its Deir el-Zouroffensive in September, the US-backed forces diverted somefighters from Raqqa toward Deir el-Zour to secure the Iraqiborder.

This prompted the government troops and allied militiamento push south to Mayadeen, finally securing the town today.

The fall of Mayadeen would strangle IS militants in thecity of Deir el-Zour, cutting their supply route from thesouth and the desert.

The pro-government Al-Ikhbariya TV quoted an unnamedSyrian military official as saying that IS' defenses inMayadeen collapsed today, with troops chasing last IS fightersout of town as corps of engineers cleared land mines.

Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said government troops, backed by Shiitemilitias, have control of the town but are still combing itfor militants.

With IS under fire in Deir el-Zour and Raqqa, the onlyremaining urban stronghold still in the militants' hand isBoukamal, a strategic border town that had linked IS territoryin Syria and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian DemocraticForces, said the IS militants were putting up a desperatefight in its few remaining neighborhoods in Raqqa, spokesmanMustafa Bali, said. The US coalition said about 85 per cent ofRaqqa was now controlled by the SDF.

Scores of civilians were seen in a video that surfacedFriday leaving Raqqa in desperate and terrified condition.

They emerged from destroyed districts, some of them collapsingon the ground in exhaustion as they arrive to a Kurdish-heldarea of the city, in haunting scenes reflecting their years-old ordeal.

Earlier this week, US officials said an estimated 4,000civilians are believed still trapped in the city. OmarAlloush, a local Raqqa official, told The Associated Press onFriday that about 100 IS militants surrendered at once.

The Observatory said negotiations over the fate offoreign fighters who remain in Raqqa have delayed the finalpush to regain control of the city. But SDF officials denythere are talks to evacuate IS fighters.

US officials have said that only surrender, not anegotiated withdrawal for IS fighters in Raqqa, would beaccepted while the top US envoy for the anti-IS coalitionBrett McGurk had said earlier foreign fighters in Raqqa willdie in the city.

Losing Raqqa, in many ways the symbol of IS' caliphate,would be yet another blow to the militant group and its reignof terror in the region as its strongholds crumble one afteranother in Iraq and other parts of Syria.

Still, the US-led coalition said it expects "difficultfighting" in the days ahead to completely oust IS from thecity and secure it. SDF and US officials said the remainingmilitants are mostly suicide bombers who only have small armsand rifles. With a small area remaining, they have no accessto their weapon of choice, car bombs, said Bali, the SDFspokesman.

"Our forces are waging the final phase of the battle ofthe presence of Daesh in Raqqa. We have not decided if thisbattle will last hours, days or weeks," Bali said, using theArabic name for IS.

Militants seized Raqqa in 2014, the first city to fallunder the full control of the extremist group. It becamesynonymous with IS' reign of terror, with public killings andbeheadings videotaped slayings that have shocked the world. Itwas also from Raqqa, which became a destination for foreignfighters from around the world, that many of IS' attacks inthe West were plotted.

The latest battle for Raqqa began in June, with heavystreet-by-street fighting amid intense US-led coalitionairstrikes and shelling. The battle has dragged on in the faceof stiff resistance from the militants and civilians trappedin the city.

The SDF today said they seized the al-Nahda neighbourhoodin Raqqa's western sector. A day earlier, IS carried out anoffensive on SDF forces near the city's main hospital, an ISfortified headquarters. (AP)SMJ.

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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