Air strike kills 54 civilians in Deir Al Zor

IT IS NOT CLEAR IF STRIKE WAS CARRIED OUT BY IRAQ OR COALITION FIGHTING DAESH

An air strike has killed 54 civilians in one of the last holdouts of Daesh in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Al Zor, a monitor said yesterday.

The raid late Thursday hit a “gathering of civilians” at an ice factory near the village of Al Soussa near the Iraqi border, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It was not immediately clear if the strike was carried out by an Iraqi plane or by one of the US-led coalition fighting Daesh, the monitor said.

Iraqi warplanes have recently carried out strikes against Daesh in eastern Syria, while coalition aircraft have been supporting Kurdish-led fighters battling the militants.

State news agency SANA reported the strike late Thursday, saying more than 30 civilians were killed and accusing the US-led coalition of carrying it out.

Daesh terrorists swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, declaring a so-called crossborder “caliphate” in areas they controlled.

They have since lost most of that territory to various offensives, but still retain pockets of land in Syria including in the country’s vast Badiya desert and in Deir Al Zor.

Daesh terrorists have faced two separate offensives in Deir Al Zor on either side of the Euphrates River that cuts through the province.

Russia-backed regime forces have pushed back the terrorists on the western side of the Euphrates, while the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces alliance has battled them to its east.

Al Soussa lies to the east of the Euphrates River, in a pocket of territory still held by the militants.

Daesh terrorists have been expelled from most urban centres in Syria, but analysts say they have retained their ability to pounce from the desert. A senior envoy to Iran’s leader says Tehran has no intention of leaving Syria despite US and Israeli pressure.

The statement from Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, follows his meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It comes days before Monday’s summit in Helsinki between Putin and US President Donald Trump, where the issue of the Iranian presence in Syria is set to top the agenda.

Last month, a Daesh incursion into the town of Albu Kamal on the west of the Euphrates left dozens of pro-regime fighters dead.

Attacks spiked after the militants were evacuated from their last bastion outside Damascus in May, many heading to the Badiya desert, the Observatory said.

Daesh also has a presence in the northwestern province of Idlib, as well as in the southwestern province of Daraa where it has been battling opposition fighters in recent days.

The government and rebels last week announced a ceasefire agreement as the regime moves to retake control of the whole of the province, but Daesh is excluded from that deal.