BEIRUT: Syrian government forces and their allies regained control on Saturday of a predominantly Christian central town that sleeper cells of the militant Islamic State (IS) group captured late last month.
The government-run Syrian Central Military Media said “the Syrian army and its allies have restored security and stability to Qaryatayn” after clearing the town of out IS fighters.
The capture of Qaryatayn came after nearly three weeks of fighting that saw IS capture areas it had earlier lost in an offensive by Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militiamen under the cover of Russian airstrikes.
Earlier this week, IS lost control of the northern city of Raqa, the de facto capital of its self-declared caliphate, after a four-month offensive by the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Last week, IS lost its stronghold of Mayadeen in eastern Syria.
IS still holds parts of Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province and Iraq’s Anbar province, as well as small, scattered pockets elsewhere. The loss of Qaryatayn is another blow for the extremist group.
Earlier this month, the Russian military accused the US of helping IS launch a series of attacks against Syrian troops. Moscow said that IS launched a series of attacks in late September week from the area around Tanf near Syria’s border with Jordan, where US military advisers are based.
The Russians said the IS attacks near Qaryatayn in the Homs province, and a key highway linking Palmyra and Deir ez-Zor, wouldn’t have been possible without US intelligence.
The capture of Qaryatayn came as Syria and its strong backer Iran signed a joint memorandum of understanding for developing cooperation and coordination between the two countries’ armies.
It said the memo was signed between the two countries’ chiefs of staffs, adding that it provides for exchanging military expertise and intelligence and technology information in a way that can boost the two countries’ capability for fight terrorism, according to state news agency SANA.
Iran has been one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s strongest supporters since the country’s crisis began in 2011 and has sent thousands of Iranian-backed militiamen to boost his troops against opponents.
The Chief of Staff of Iran’s armed forces, Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, is on an official visit to Syria. He toured the front lines in the northern province of Aleppo and discus-sed military cooperation with President Bashar Assad.
Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2017
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