MESOPOTAMIA NEWS TODAY – Syrian Army Says Captured Villages From U.S.-backed Forces SDF (PKK/PYD) – 2018-04-30 GMT
AMMAN (Reuters) – The Syrian army said on Sunday it had captured a string of villages from U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) east of the Euphrates river near the border with Iraq where Kurdish-led forces are in control, state television said.
The U.S.-backed proxy forces spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG militia since last year have taken over much of the territory east of the Euphrates in Deir al-Zor province as part of a major campaign that drove Islamic State militants from eastern Syria.
The Russian-backed Syrian army has rarely clashed with SDF forces in its campaign against Islamic State and had kept away from their areas east of the Euphrates, focusing on regaining territory from the militants west of the river.
SDF officials were not immediately available for comment. www.mesop.de