Iranian-backed militias routed in last Syrian militant stronghold

SYRIA: Islamic State militants yesterday regained control of Albu Kamal city, their last stronghold in Syria, after Iranian-backed militias who captured the city a few days earlier were ambushed and forced to retreat, tribal leaders, residents and a war monitor said.

Fighters from Lebanese Shi’ite Hezbollah in Syria who joined forces with Iraqi Shi’ite fighters crossing the border into Syria were taken by surprise by militants hiding inside tunnels in the heart of the city they claimed to have taken on Wednesday, they said.

The Shi’ite fighters had launched a ground offensive on the city, located in Syria’s eastern Deir al Zor province, where the Euphrates river meets, after months of mainly heavy Russian bombardment against the city that killed dozens of civilians and caused widespread destruction.

‘‘Islamic State militants began surprise attacks with suicide bombers and rocket attacks after the Iranian militias were duped that Daesh (Islamic State) had left the city,’’ said Qahtan Ghanam al Ali, a tribal leader in touch with relatives. The Syrian army had on Thursday declared victory over Islamic State claiming it had killed many militants while scores surrendered. It said the capture of Albu Kamal marked the collapse of the militants’ three-year reign in the region.

The offensive was spearheaded by elite forces from Lebanon’s Hezbollah group fighting inside Syria alongside an array of Iraqi and Afghan Shi’ite militias that had entered from Iraq, a commander in that alliance told Reuters.

‘‘These militant attacks lead to big human losses in the ranks of fighters supporting the regime,’’ the U.K. based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Albu Kamal, a major supply and communications hub for the ultra-hardline militants between Syria and Iraq, is a big prize for the Iranian-backed militias. - Reuters PHILIPPINES: President Rodrigo Duterte crooned a hit Filipino love song at a dinner in Manila for leaders from across Asia, explaining later that it was ‘‘on the orders of US President Donald Trump’’.

Trump and Duterte were among 19 leaders at a glittering gala in the Philippines capital on Sunday, local time, ahead of an annual summit, and at one point Duterte took the microphone to sing ‘‘Ikaw’’ (You), in a duet with local pop diva Pilita Corrales.

One of the song’s verses, translated from Filipino, begins: ‘‘You are the light in my world, a half of this heart of mine’’.

‘‘Ladies and gentlemen, I sang uninvited, upon the orders of the commander-in-chief of the United States,’’ Duterte said later.

- Reuters