BEIRUT
(AP) -- U.S.-backed Syrian fighters are preparing an offensive against
the Islamic State group in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq in a
race with government forces marching in the same direction against the
extremists in their last major holdout in Syria.
The
dueling battles for Deir el-Zour highlight the importance of the
oil-rich eastern province, which has become the latest epicenter of the
international war against the Islamic State group, raising concerns of
an eventual clash between the two sides.
The
race to reach the Iraqi border will also shape future regional dynamics,
determining whether the United States or Russia and Iran will have more
influence in the strategic area once the extremist group is defeated.
Iran
has been one of President Bashar Assad's strongest backers since the
crisis began in March 2011 and has sent thousands of Iranian-backed
fighters and advisers to fight against insurgent groups trying to remove
him from power. The U.S. enjoys wide influence in northeastern Syria
where hundreds of American troops and advisers are helping the
predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, one of the most
effective in fighting IS in Syria.
The
U.S.-backed fighters are up against a huge challenge to reach Deir
el-Zour, especially while they are still fighting to liberate Raqqa from
IS. Three months into the battle, they have liberated around 60 percent
of the city, and much more difficult urban fighting still lies ahead.
This
week, Syrian troops and their Iranian-backed allies reached Deir
el-Zour, breaking a nearly three-year-old IS siege on government-held
parts of the city in a major breakthrough in their offensive against IS.
In a victory statement, the Syrian military said Deir el-Zour will be
used as a launching pad to liberate the remaining IS-held areas along
the border with Iraq.
The troops' arrival to
Deir el-Zour city brings Syrian forces and their allies a step closer to
controlling the oil-rich eastern province and its capital bordering
Iraq, a major boost for Tehran's growing influence in the area. The
region has some of Syria's largest oil fields, whose revenue is vital to
the state's dried coffers.
Washington has
been determined to block the formation of an "Iranian corridor" - of
Shiite-controlled land stretching from Tehran to Damascus - and for
months has been eyeing the area southeast of Raqqa near the Iraqi
border.
U.S.-backed Syrian rebels had been
gathering in Tanf in southeastern Syria to march toward Deir el-Zour,
but their plans were disrupted in June when Syrian troops reached the
border with Iraq, obstructing their path. The only way left for the SDF
to enter the eastern province appears to be from the northeastern
province of Hassakeh, where Syrian activists say the U.S.-backed
fighters have been gathering and stepping up preparations for an attack.
A
U.S.-trained group, the Deir el-Zour Military Council, which is part of
the SDF, is expected to launch the attack against IS in Deir el-Zour
under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition within days. SDF
officials say the imminent attack is not related to government forces
reaching the city earlier this week, and was planned months in advance.
Syrian
Kurdish official Nawaf Khalil, who is in Germany but frequently visits
northern Syria, said the SDF attack on Deir el-Zour could begin at any
moment, adding that the battle for Raqqa now no longer needs a large
number of fighters.
"Deir el-Zour is a main
connection point and a very important geographic area," Khalil said
referring to the province linking several Syrian regions with western
Iraq.
The U.S.-led coalition fighting IS said
in an email to The Associated Press that the SDF "will decide when the
conditions are right for an offensive."
Asked
about concerns of a possible clash between the SDF and Syrian troops,
the coalition said: "We urge all forces to concentrate their efforts on
our common enemy (IS)."
Washington has
welcomed Syrian troops' fight against IS. Both the U.S. and Russia have
an interest in avoiding a clash between the SDF and Syrian forces and
may devise a strategy that will allow both sides to share control of the
vast province.
U.S. officials have suggested they are not seeking a confrontation with Assad's forces.
"We
are in the killing-ISIS business. That is what we want to do, and if
the Syrian regime wants to do that ... and show that they are doing just
that in Abu Kamal or Deir el-Zour or elsewhere, that means that we
don't have to do that in those places," said coalition spokesman Col.
Ryan Dillon in June referring to a town on the Iraqi border, and using a
different acronym for IS.
U.S. Defense
Secretary Jim Mattis said last month during a visit to the Middle East
that the Middle Euphrates River Valley will soon be liberated, as IS
takes hits from both sides of the valley that bisects Iraq and Syria.
"You see, ISIS is now caught in between converging forces," Mattis said.
Ahmed
Abu Khawla, the commander of the Deir el-Zour Military Council, says he
commands a force of 4,000 fighters, mostly from Deir el-Zour province.
"We
are an organized army. We are not militias or separate brigades. We
have a unified military leadership and an operations room to
coordinate," he told the AP.
"The plans for
the Deir el-Zour campaign have been in the works for over a year and
half but Raqqa took precedence because of international considerations,"
said Abu Khawla.
Abu Khawla said his group
has already liberated 93 villages in northwestern rural Deir el-Zour
including, more recently, the village of Abou Khashab. Asked about
potential confrontations with government troops, he said: "If the regime
wants a confrontation or directs one bullet at us we will respond."
He also said that the SDF is already forming a local civilian council to administer the area after the military operations.
Ahmad
al-Ahmad, who heads the opposition's Syria Press center, said the SDF
does not have the manpower to control Deir el-Zour, adding that
government forces have brought in lots of troops and Iranian-backed
gunmen for the battle.
"The regime wants to
reach the border with Iraq to open a land line to Iran through Baghdad,"
al-Ahmad said, adding that they are capable of doing that.
Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
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