Militias routed in last Syrian militant stronghold

AMMAN: IS group militants regained control of Albu Kamal, their last stronghold in Syria, after militias who claimed to have captured the city a few days earlier were ambushed and forced to retreat, tribal leaders, residents and a war monitor said on Monday.

Fighters in Syria who joined forces with Iraqi fighters crossing the border into Syria were taken by surprise by militants hiding inside tunnels in the heart of the city they said they had taken on Wednesday, they said.

The fighters had launched a ground offensive on the city, 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.

“IS militants began surprise attacks with suicide bombers and rocket attacks after the militias were duped that Daesh (IS) 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 IS, claiming it had killed many militants while scores surrendered. It said the capture of Albu Kamal marked the collapse of the militants’ threeyear reign in the region.

The army made no mention of the loss of Albu Kamal but Hezbollah’s media unit said intensive aerial strikes pounded IS hideouts in the western countryside of the city.

The offensive was spearheaded by elite forces from Hezbollah fighting inside Syria alongside an array of Iraqi and Afghan 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. Full story @ timesofoman.com/world