32 killed as Syria war ‘nears end’
Die-hard jihadists defending their last bastions in eastern Syria used the cover of bad weather to launch a vain but deadly counterattack against Kurdish-led fighters.
The Islamic State group was unable to hold on to the positions they attacked but the assault killed 23 members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and also left nine jihadists dead.
IS fighters took advantage of poor visibility to unleash suicide attackers on SDF forces along the frontline in the Euphrates valley late on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
“Twenty-three SDF fighters were killed and nine IS jihadists in fighting that lasted all night and into Monday morning,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
The jihadists often launch attacks under the cover of bad weather, which cancels out their opponents’ advantage of US-led coalition air power.
The SDF launched what is meant to be the final offensive on the jihadist organisation four months ago, with air and ground support from coalition forces.
The Kurdish-Arab alliance has deployed some 17,000 fighters for an operation aimed at flushing out IS from the last rump of its now-defunct “caliphate”.
IS fighters “launched deadly counterattacks in three different directions against the Syrian Democratic Forces, including in the villages of Sousa and AlShaafa,” Abdel Rahman said.
They used at least two suicide bombers in their attacks, which inflicted the latest in a string of heavy losses on the SDF.
He said 1,087 IS jihadists have been killed since the start of the operation on September 10, and 602 members of the SDF.
“On Monday morning, the SDF launched an offensive and retook all the positions they lost,” the Observatory said.
“Due to its depleted manpower, IS was unable to hold on to the positions it attacked.”
Abdel Rahman said the jihadists’ defences in the area have collapsed and the end of the battle is near. –
Twenty-three SDF fighters were killed and nine IS jihadists in fighting that lasted all night