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Executive Summary for September 20th

We review the key events in Syria, including government loyalists killed in a Hama insurgent attack, Russia accusing the SDF of hindering the government’s campaign against ISIS in Deir Ezzor and a war monitor saying 90 percent of Raqqa city is under SDF control.

Published on Sep. 20, 2017 Read time Approx. 3 minutes

Insurgents Kill More Than a Dozen Syrian Troops in Hama

More than 20 pro-government fighters were killed Tuesday in an offensive by insurgent rebel groups on Hama’s northern countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

The attack, led by the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance on government-held areas north of Hama city, left at least 22 pro-government fighters dead, the monitoring group said. At least 34 insurgents were also killed in the fighting.

The SOHR said that rebel groups managed to capture four positions in Hama’s northeastern countryside from government forces. The insurgent push is part of an attempt to recapture locations near a strategic mountain overlooking Hama city, according to the monitoring group.

Russian and Syrian government warplanes pounded rebel-held Idlib on Tuesday in retaliation for the offensive, Agence France-Presse reported.

Warplanes targeted insurgent supply lines from Idlib to Hama and struck a number of medical facilities in Idlib, including a maternity hospital in the village of al-Tah and a medical outpost in the town of Khan Sheikhoun. They also hit close to two other hospitals in Idlib province, Rami Abdulrahman, head of the SOHR, told AFP.

“The raids on the maternity hospital in al-Tah killed an elderly woman who was an employee of the hospital, in the first civilian death in airstrikes in Idlib province since May,” Abdulrahman said.

The strikes on Idlib comes days after Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed on the borders of a de-escalation zone in the province and announced that they would deploy observers to security belts around Idlib to monitor compliance with the deal.

Russia Accuses U.S. Allies of Hindering ISIS Offensive

Russia said Tuesday that U.S.-backed forces fighting the so-called Islamic State in Deir Ezzor are hindering Syrian government advances east of the Euphrates river, Agence France-Presse reported.

Citing a Russian military statement, AFP said that the Syrian Democratic Forces opened fire at Syrian troops and allied forces advancing east of the Euphrates. It also accused the Kurdish-led force of opening dams to prevent advancing forces from crossing the river.

“A few hours after the Syrian forces started to cross the river, the water level rose and the speed of outflow doubled,” the statement said.

Pro-government forces crossed into areas east of the Euphrates river on Monday using makeshift bridges and advanced within 3 miles (5km) of positions held by the SDF. The controversial move has alarmed Washington’s allies, who on Saturday accused Russian warplanes of targeting one its positions in northeast Deir Ezzor.

Heightened tension between the rival forces comes at a time when both are waging simultaneous but separate offensives against ISIS in the oil-rich eastern province.

On Tuesday, Russia said that pro-government forces had captured some 23 square miles (60 square km) of territory on the eastern side of the river since Monday.

SDF Achieves Near-Complete Control of Raqqa

U.S. coalition airstrikes on the city of Raqqa this week have forced ISIS militants to retreat from five key districts in the embattled provincial capital, AFP reported on Wednesday.

Citing the SOHR, AFP said that air raids over the past 48 hours have allowed the SDF to reclaim positions abandoned by the militant group, bringing 90 percent of Raqqa under the SDF’s control.

SDF forces have been battling to capture Raqqa from ISIS since June, but their progress has been slowed by heavy ISIS fortifications.

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