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Executive Summary for October 19th

We review the key developments in Syria, including U.S.-backed forces in Syria stating civilians should not return to Raqqa, the SDF saying it will boost deployment in Deir Ezzor, and a top Syrian army general is killed by a landmine in east Syria.

Published on Oct. 19, 2017 Read time Approx. 3 minutes

U.S.-Backed Forces Say Civilians Should Not Return to Raqqa

U.S.-backed forces fighting the so-called Islamic State in Raqqa said civilians should not return to the embattled city before it is cleared of landmines and sleeper cells, Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday.

The statement by Kurdish internal security forces in Raqqa was released as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) combed the city for explosives and remnants of the militant group two days after retaking it from ISIS.

Reporting from inside Raqqa, AFP said roads were cordoned off and access to the city’s main hospital was blocked as SDF units worked to clear the area.

“They are making sure there are no more sleeper cells,” SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali told AFP. “Mine-clearing operations and the re-opening of the city are underway,” he said, explaining that a formal announcement of victory would be made when clearance operations are completed.

The SDF said on Tuesday that military operations in Raqqa have ended, but the U.S.-led coalition said that only 90 percent of the city had been retaken from ISIS. A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said about 100 fighters remained in Raqqa and that he expected the SDF to face some resistance from them, according to Reuters.

Linda Tom, a U.N. official in the Syrian capital Damascus, told the BBC on Wednesday that no civilians were thought to be in the city and the U.N. was ready to provide assistance to civilians who had fled Raqqa.

Citing the UNHCR, the Associated Press said that around 40,000 Raqqa residents had arrived in overcrowded displacement camps in the province in the past few days.

On Tuesday, Save the Children warned that most civilians who had fled Raqqa “will likely be stuck in camps for months or years to come,” according to the BBC.

SDF to Boost Deployment in Deir Ezzor

The SDF said on Wednesday that it will deploy more forces to fight ISIS in east Syria now that the city of Raqqa has been cleared of militants, Reuters reported.

SDF spokesman Talal Silo told Reuters that his group will deploy fighters to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor as Kurdish internal security forces take control of Raqqa.

“This is all to the benefit of the [Deir Ezzor] campaign and accelerating the end of this campaign,” he said.

The Deir Ezzor Military Council, which operates under the banner of the SDF, is currently locked in fierce fighting with ISIS militants on the eastern banks of the Euphrates river in Deir Ezzor.

The Syrian government, backed by Russia, is waging a simultaneous but separate campaign against militants in the province. Last week, it captured the city of al-Mayadeen, once a main ISIS stronghold, from militants. It has also captured most of Deir Ezzor’s provincial capital, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The last main stronghold for ISIS in Deir Ezzor province is the town of Boukamal, near the Iraqi border.

Syrian Army General Killed by Landmine in Deir Ezzor

A senior Syrian army general who was instrumental in operations against ISIS in Deir Ezzor was killed by a landmine in the province on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Major General Issam Zahreddine led the 104 Brigade of the Syrian Republican Guard, which was besieged by ISIS for three years in Deir Ezzor city.

Citing a Hezbollah media unit, the AP said that Zahreddine, 56, was “one of the most important field commanders in the Syrian army.”

They added, “He was instrumental in breaking a nearly three-year [ISIS] siege on the city of Deir Ezzor earlier this year.”

Zahreddine was a controversial figure. In a video widely shared after Deir Ezzor’s siege was breached in September, he warned Syrians who had fled the country not to return because the army “will never forget or forgive,” the AP said.

He later apologized on Syrian state TV.

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