US-backed Syrian, Kurdish rebels cut Daesh supply

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has cut the road between the Islamic State (IS)-held province of al-Raqqa and the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, a monitor group reported on Monday.

The IS has lost all routes out of al-Raqqa, save for one through the Euphrates River, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The SDF, a Kurdish-led group supported by a U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, succeeded on Monday to cut the main road connecting al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS in northern Syria, with the IS-held areas in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, said the London-based monitor group, which says it relies on activists on the ground inside Syria.

The latest achievement came after a months-old offensive the SDF launched under the air cover of the U.S.-led coalition to isolate al-Raqqa from its countryside and other IS-held areas in the oil-rich Deir al-Zour.

The first stage of battles launched by the SDF in recent months focused on the eastern countryside of al-Raqqa, and last month the group unleashed an offensive against IS positions in the countryside of Deir al-Zour, as a prelude to cutting the IS supply route between the two areas.

Last week, the Observatory said 300 families left Iraq's Mosul or al-Raqqa and reached the IS-controlled city of al-Mayadeen in the countryside of Deir al-Zour, a move seen as anticipating further escalation of battles against the terror-designated group.

The losses near al-Raqqa were not the only heavy blow to IS, as Syrian government forces have also made strides against IS positions in the eastern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria with the help of its powerful ally Russia.

For the SDF, the U.S. support was instrumental in boosting the momentum of Kurdish-led groups in northern Syria.

In the city of Manbij, in Aleppo countryside, the SDF, now controlling the city through a local group known as Manbij Military Council, said Sunday evening that Kurdish-led groups' are now in control of the city, under the protection of the U.S.-led coalition.

This came as Turkish forces and allied fighters declared their next goal was to dislodge the Kurdish groups out of Manbij, after Turkey-backed rebels captured the city of al-Bab from IS in Aleppo countryside recently.

For Turkey, the presence of Kurdish influence in northern Syria near the Turkish borders is a red line, but for the U.S., the Kurdish groups are crucial allies on the ground.

The SDF said it will hand over areas west of Manbij to Syrian government forces, which would serve as a separation force between the Turkish-backed groups and the Kurdish-led ones.

source: Xinhua