Fierce Clashes Rock Deir Ezzor City

At least 73 fighters have been killed in clashes between the Syrian government and the so-called Islamic State in Deir Ezzor city over the last 24 hours, Agence France-Presse reported on Sunday.

Citing the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), AFP said that ISIS launched an attack in the provincial capital on Saturday. Fierce fighting killed at least 50 militants and some 23 pro-government fighters, according to the monitoring group.

SOHR director Rami Abdulrahman told AFP that Saturday’s fighting was the fiercest in the city since government troops lifted a siege on parts of the provincial capital last month.

Most of Deir Ezzor city has fallen under government control since early September and pro-government forces are now pushing toward ISIS’s last stronghold near the border with Iraq.

The U.S.-led coalition said on Friday that the militant group is building up its defenses in the town of Boukamal, south of Deir Ezzor city, in anticipation of assaults by government forces, according to Reuters.

The Syrian government on Thursday said it captured a pumping station near Boukamal that will be used as a launching pad for attacks against the ISIS stronghold.

Government Shells Besieged Damascus Suburbs

At least 11 civilians were killed in government shelling on an opposition-held enclave north of the capital Damascus on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Two women, a child and a media activist were among those killed in the attacks on the Sabqa and Hamouriyah districts, the AP said, citing the SOHR and the activist-run Eastern Ghouta Media Center.

The Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus are formally designated as a de-escalation zone, but violence in the area has persisted despite the agreement.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein on Friday called for food and medicine to be delivered to at least 350,000 people who are trapped in the enclave, Reuters reported.

His comments came days after UNICEF announced that more than 1,100 children in the area are suffering from acute malnutrition.

“I remind all parties that the deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of warfare constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and may amount to a crime against humanity and/or a war crime,” Zeid said.

According to Reuters, a U.N. convoy last reached the besieged suburbs on September 23, with aid for 25,000 people.

Medecins Sans Frontieres: Fighting in Iraq Threatens Aid for North Syria

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned on Saturday that aid delivery to half a million displaced civilians in northeastern Syria is being threatened by fighting between Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters near the border.

In a statement, the organization said the Feshkhabour border crossing in the northwest of Iraq is the only option for humanitarian organizations to bring supplies and specialists into northeast Syria.

The area has been rocked by clashes in recent weeks as Iraqi forces try to retake control of the country’s border from the Kurds, following last month’s Kurdish vote for independence.

MSF said that the closure of the border could end critical medical support for the Kurdish-held areas of Manbij, Tal Abyad, Tabqa, Kobani/Ayn al-Arab, Hassakeh and Raqqa in Syria.

“A closure of the Feshkhabour border crossing for all humanitarian aid could affect millions of lives,” the statement read.

Recommended Reads

• The Associated Press: Their Caliphate in Ruins, I.S. Militants Melt Into the Desert
• Agence France-Presse: Lipstick, Mixed Dancing at First Raqa Wedding Since I.S.
• Reuters: Islamic State Guerrilla Attacks Point to its Future Strategy
• Al Jazeera: Syrian War: All You Need to Know About the Astana Talks
• The Atlantic Council: Assad and Legitimacy