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Executive Summary for September 18th

We review the key developments in Syria, including a purported Russian strike against SDF positions in eastern Syria, preparations for Turkish deployment around a new de-escalation zone in Idlib, and government advances against ISIS in Deir Ezzor.

Published on Sep. 18, 2017 Read time Approx. 3 minutes

SDF Accuses Russian Warplanes of Targeting Its Forces

U.S.-backed forces fighting the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) accused Russian jets and pro-government forces of attacking one of their positions in eastern Syria on Saturday, Reuters reported.

“Our forces east of the Euphrates were hit with an attack from the Russian aircraft and Syrian regime forces, targeting our units in the industrial zone,” the Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement. The Kurdish-led force said six of its fighters were wounded in the strike.

The Pentagon also accused Russia of bombing an SDF position east of the Euphrates river.

Russia rejected the allegations on Sunday, the Associated Press reported. Russian defense ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that warplanes carried out “pinpoint strikes only on I.S. targets that have been observed and confirmed through several channels.”

Heightened tensions between pro-government forces and the Washington-backed militia comes at a time when the groups are simultaneously fighting separate campaigns against ISIS in Deir Ezzor province. SDF fighters have been advancing on the eastern bank of the Euphrates while pro-government forces are pushing on the western side, according to the AP.

Saturday’s purported strike comes one day after the Deir Ezzor military council, which is fighting under the banner of the SDF in eastern Syria, said that it would not let Syrian government forces cross the Euphrates River to fight ISISReuters reported.

Also on Friday, a top aide to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said that Syrian government forces would battle any group, including the SDF, to recapture the entire country.

Turkey Deploys Troops Along Syria Border

A convoy of Turkish military vehicles deployed to Turkey’s southern border with Syria on Sunday, days after Ankara agreed to send observers to monitor a de-escalation zone in Syria’s Idlib province, Al Jazeera reported.

Citing Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, Al Jazeera said that Turkey sent 80 military vehicles to border posts.

A convoy of 18 Turkish army vehicles, including tanks, arrived in areas close to the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the border with Idlib province on Sunday. Another batch of vehicles also arrived at the Rihaniyah border crossing, Al Jazeera said.

The deployment along Turkey’s border comes two days after Moscow, Tehran and Ankara agreed to deploy observers to monitor the implementation of a de-escalation zone in Idlib province, Reuters reported.

Representatives of the three states who attended talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Friday said that their observers would be positioned in “safe zones” established on the border of the Idlib de-escalation zone.

The three nations are each expected to send about 500 observers to the northwestern province, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev said. Their mission will be to prevent fighting between pro-government forces and Syrian rebels and also obstruct attempts to violate the truce, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

On Friday, representatives from Moscow, Tehran and Ankara agreed on establishing a de-escalation zone in Idlib province for a six-month trial period that could be extended. The agreement is part of a broader deal between the three states that will allow for de-escalation zones to be established in four different parts of Syria.

Al-Qaida’s former affiliate in Syria, the group previously known as the Nusra Front, denounced the plans for a de-escalation zone in a statement on Saturday, Reuters reported. The group, which controls parts of Idlib, said that the cease-fire was a prelude to restoring Assad’s rule in rebel-held areas.

Government Forces Advance Against ISIS in Deir Ezzor

Syrian troops and allied forces captured a district on the western banks of the Euphrates river from the Islamic State on Sunday, Reuters reported.

The capture of the al-Jafra district, a suburb of Deir Ezzor city, has severed ISIS’s main supply line in the provincial capital. “They have no outlet except crossing the Euphrates towards the eastern bank and fleeing towards the desert, or (the towns) al-Bukamal and al-Mayadin,” an unidentified military source told Reuters.

ISIS still holds nearly one-third of the city, Reuters said, citing the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Pro-government forces are in control of the remaining two-thirds, according to the SOHR.

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