MESOP REPORT : ISIS escapes battle front in Hasakah, evacuates headquarters

ARA News – 25 July – Hasakah, Syria – On Friday, Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) seized control over the Nashwa Gharbiya district, the main stronghold of Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) in Hasakah city, north-eastern Syria. The YPG’s leadership released a statement, of which ARA News received a copy, saying the Kurdish units were able to “liberate” the Sharia roundabout and took over three IS security centers after storming the Nashwa Gharbiya district in southern Hasakah.

“Dozens of terrorists were killed and the rest evacuated their headquarters in Nashwa Gharbiya district under the bombardment of our forces,” the YPG leadership said. Speaking to ARA News in Hasakah, media activist Abdul Karim Saleh said that IS militants withdrew completely from Nashwa Gharbiya district after fierce attacks by Kurdish fighters.“The terrorist group is currently stranded in the neighborhood of Sharia. The Kurdish bombardment will soon force the remaining IS terrorists to leave Hasakah,” Saleh said. In the meantime, clashes continued until Friday evening between the Kurdish fighters and IS militants in the vicinity of Hosh al-Baar and az-Zuour districts in the southern suburb of Hasakah. This coincided with raids by the U.S.-led coalition’s warplanes and the Syrian air force on IS fighting positions in Hasakah.