Syrian Government Captures Deir Ezzor City From ISIS

The Syrian army and allied forces seized the largest city in eastern Syria from the so-called Islamic State on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported.

“Fighting has ended, now there are sweeping operations under way,” Rami Abdulrahman of the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told AFP.

Syrian state media also confirmed the capture of Deir Ezzor on Friday, Al Jazeera reported. However, an unidentified pro-government commander told Reuters that some ISIS-held pockets remained in the city.

Thursday’s development marks the first time the city has been under full government control since ISIS imposed a siege on parts of the provincial capital in 2014.

It also underscores the Syrian government’s re-established control over eastern parts of the country and represents a severe blow to ISIS militants, who have lost large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq in recent months.

Six Killed in Shelling of Eastern Ghouta

Syrian government airstrikes on a rebel-held town in the Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus on Thursday killed at least six people, including one child, AFP reported.

The SOHR monitor told AFP that at least 21 other people had been wounded by airstrikes on the town of Douma.

The raids are the latest in a string of attacks on the Eastern Ghouta region, which Turkey, Iran and Russia designated a so-called de-escalation zone during talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana in July.

On Tuesday at least seven children were killed by government shelling on the towns of Jisreen and Musraba in the suburbs of the capital.

Moscow and Washington Submit Rival Resolutions on Chemical Weapons Probe

The United States and Russia have circulated rival United Nations resolutions that would extend the mandate of a mission investigating the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Last month, Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have extended the mandate by a year. It was the ninth time Moscow had used its power of veto in the council to block resolutions targeting the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

The investigation by the U.N. and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) – known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) – was set up by Russia and the U.S. in 2015 to identify the source of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Its mandate was extended last year and is due to expire on Nov. 17.

Washington is trying to renew the JIM mandate by two years, the AP said, citing the U.S. draft security council resolution, which would reaffirm support to the OPCW fact-finding mission and the JIM “as they undertake their respective investigations in a manner they deem appropriate to fulfill their mandate.”

Russia’s draft, which states that “there is the need for further improvements and update of the JIM’s mandate,” would extend the mandate for only six months.

A JIM report published last week blamed the Assad government for a chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib on April 4, which killed more than 80 people.

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• Reuters: Russia Sets out Why It Thinks U.N. Wrongly Accused Syria Over Sarin Attack
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• Al-Monitor: Russian Summit on Syria Raises Controversy, Doubt
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