Xinhua, Damascus :
The Syrian army and allied fighters have captured 44 towns and villages in central and eastern Syria from Islamic State (IS) militants since Sept. 10, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.
The military progress has taken place in the countryside of Deir al-Zour Province in eastern Syria, the northern province of Raqqa and the central province of Hama, said SANA.
Hundreds of IS militants, including Tunisians, Iraqis and Saudis, were killed during the operations which also destroyed 19 IS command centers.
IS militants are also collapsing in the eastern countryside of Homs Province in central Syria, a military source said on condition of anonymity. The operations in Homs, Raqqa, Hama and Deir al-Zour are part of a large- scale offensive to eradicate IS militants in key areas across Syria. A total of 2,617 civilians have been killed in the U.S.-led anti-terror operations in Syria since late 2014, a monitor group reported Saturday.
The death toll includes 615 children and 443 women, said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The casualties were documented in the provinces of Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo, Idlib and Deir al-Zour, the group added.
The U.S.-led coalition has been backing the Kurdish-led fighters in northern Syria in their fight against Islamic State militants.
The Syrian government has repeatedly slammed the coalition’s intervention in Syria as illegitimate, and urged the UN to dissolve the coalition, citing the civilian casualties.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Russia are backing separate campaigns to wipe out the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in its final stronghold of Deir ez-Zor, in eastern Syria. As the rival powers and their allies close in on jihadists, however, an international rivalry escalates, and seemingly natural obstacles grow increasingly suspect.
With support from Russia and Iran, the Syrian military has broken a three-year ISIS siege on fellow soldiers trapped in Deir ez-Zor and beaten the militants back across the Euphrates river that divides the city. As Syrian troops advanced Tuesday, however, Moscow has accused the nearby U.S-led coalition campaign against ISIS of deliberately raising the river’s water levels using dams located within territory held by the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish coalition of Arabs and ethnic minorities, to frustrate the Syrian military offensive.
“The water situation on the Euphrates has deteriorated dramatically in the past 24 hours. As soon as the Syrian government troops began to cross the river, the water level in the Euphrates rose within hours, and the current velocity nearly doubled to two meters per second,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov told the state-run Tass, the Russian news agency.
“Since there have been no rains, the only source of such changes in the water situation is man-induced water discharge at dams upstream the Euphrates. These facilities are held by opposition groups controlled by the U.S.-led coalition,” he stressed.
The U.S.-led campaign, known as Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, told Newsweek in a statement Thursday that “a number of factors will impact the water levels in the river, but we are not aware of any direct intervention by the coalition or our partner forces.” The People’s Protection Units, a Kurdish militia that forms much of the Syrian Democratic Forces, also denied any involvement and said it “did not notice any water level change” in a statement sent Friday to Newsweek.
Meanwhile, “mystery” fires broke out Thursday in the nearby Koniko gas field, the largest of its kind in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitor with ties to Syria’s exiled opposition. The group said it had not yet determined the source of the fires but noted that the Syrian military was clashing with ISIS a little more than three miles away, and the Syrian Democratic Forces were posted about eight miles away. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported Tuesday that Syrian troops were attempting to take the field, but neither side has claimed responsibility for the fires.
The U.S.-led coalition confirmed to Newsweek Thursday that the U.S. and partner forces were “aware of the fires in the vicinity of the Koniko gas field” but denied playing any role in them, or having any knowledge of how they started or what was being done to extinguish the blaze.
The Syrian army and allied fighters have captured 44 towns and villages in central and eastern Syria from Islamic State (IS) militants since Sept. 10, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.
The military progress has taken place in the countryside of Deir al-Zour Province in eastern Syria, the northern province of Raqqa and the central province of Hama, said SANA.
Hundreds of IS militants, including Tunisians, Iraqis and Saudis, were killed during the operations which also destroyed 19 IS command centers.
IS militants are also collapsing in the eastern countryside of Homs Province in central Syria, a military source said on condition of anonymity. The operations in Homs, Raqqa, Hama and Deir al-Zour are part of a large- scale offensive to eradicate IS militants in key areas across Syria. A total of 2,617 civilians have been killed in the U.S.-led anti-terror operations in Syria since late 2014, a monitor group reported Saturday.
The death toll includes 615 children and 443 women, said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The casualties were documented in the provinces of Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo, Idlib and Deir al-Zour, the group added.
The U.S.-led coalition has been backing the Kurdish-led fighters in northern Syria in their fight against Islamic State militants.
The Syrian government has repeatedly slammed the coalition’s intervention in Syria as illegitimate, and urged the UN to dissolve the coalition, citing the civilian casualties.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Russia are backing separate campaigns to wipe out the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in its final stronghold of Deir ez-Zor, in eastern Syria. As the rival powers and their allies close in on jihadists, however, an international rivalry escalates, and seemingly natural obstacles grow increasingly suspect.
With support from Russia and Iran, the Syrian military has broken a three-year ISIS siege on fellow soldiers trapped in Deir ez-Zor and beaten the militants back across the Euphrates river that divides the city. As Syrian troops advanced Tuesday, however, Moscow has accused the nearby U.S-led coalition campaign against ISIS of deliberately raising the river’s water levels using dams located within territory held by the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish coalition of Arabs and ethnic minorities, to frustrate the Syrian military offensive.
“The water situation on the Euphrates has deteriorated dramatically in the past 24 hours. As soon as the Syrian government troops began to cross the river, the water level in the Euphrates rose within hours, and the current velocity nearly doubled to two meters per second,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov told the state-run Tass, the Russian news agency.
“Since there have been no rains, the only source of such changes in the water situation is man-induced water discharge at dams upstream the Euphrates. These facilities are held by opposition groups controlled by the U.S.-led coalition,” he stressed.
The U.S.-led campaign, known as Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, told Newsweek in a statement Thursday that “a number of factors will impact the water levels in the river, but we are not aware of any direct intervention by the coalition or our partner forces.” The People’s Protection Units, a Kurdish militia that forms much of the Syrian Democratic Forces, also denied any involvement and said it “did not notice any water level change” in a statement sent Friday to Newsweek.
Meanwhile, “mystery” fires broke out Thursday in the nearby Koniko gas field, the largest of its kind in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitor with ties to Syria’s exiled opposition. The group said it had not yet determined the source of the fires but noted that the Syrian military was clashing with ISIS a little more than three miles away, and the Syrian Democratic Forces were posted about eight miles away. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported Tuesday that Syrian troops were attempting to take the field, but neither side has claimed responsibility for the fires.
The U.S.-led coalition confirmed to Newsweek Thursday that the U.S. and partner forces were “aware of the fires in the vicinity of the Koniko gas field” but denied playing any role in them, or having any knowledge of how they started or what was being done to extinguish the blaze.
