ISIS Blast Kills More Than 70 People in Eastern Syria

At least 75 displaced civilians were killed in a car bomb attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State in eastern Syria on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reported.

Citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), AFP said that 140 other people were wounded in the attack, which took place only one day after pro-government forces captured Deir Ezzor’s provincial capital from militants.

According to Reuters, the blast targeted a refugee gathering on the east side of the Euphrates river, between the Conoco and Jafra energy fields, an area controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

Rami Abdulrahman, SOHR head, told AFP that a new convoy of displaced people had arrived at the refugee gathering at the time of the attack.

Saturday’s blast comes at a time when the Syrian government and allied forces are advancing toward the last ISIS stronghold in Syria – the town of Boukamal, near the border with Iraq.

Pro-government are within 9 miles (15 km) of the town, AFP said, citing the SOHR.

Iran-Backed Iraqi Militia to Fight ISIS in Syria

An Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militia fighting ISIS in Iraq is looking also to battle the militant group in its last urban holdout in Syria, Reuters reported on Saturday.

The spokesman for the Kataib Hezbollah militia, one of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighting alongside the Iraqi army against ISIS, told Lebanese al-Mayadin TV on Friday that his forces would take part in the fight against ISIS in the Syrian town of Boukamal, near the border with Iraq, Reuters said.

Jaafar Hussaini’s comments come hours after Iraqi security forces, including PMF, captured the Iraqi border town of al-Qaim, near Boukamal, from ISIS.

Citing the SOHR, AFP said on Saturday that PMF forces have already crossed the border into areas near Boukamal.

According to SOHR head Rami Abdulrahman, clashes broke out between the PMF and ISIS militants in the Hiri area in Syria, located in the eastern countryside of Boukamal.

ISIS was eventually able to push Iraqi forces back across the border after the two groups exchanged fire, the SOHR said.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Hussaini confirmed that the PMF and ISIS clashed near the border with Syria but denied that they had actually crossed the frontier.

The Kataeb Hezbollah spokesman told the AP that his forces clashed with militants only a few meters from the border. He said his forces also fired rockets into Syria from al-Qaim, but he said fighters didn’t cross the frontier.

There are 2,500–3,500 remaining ISIS fighters concentrated around Boukamal, the AP said, citing the U.S.-led coalition.

Iranian Official: Syrian Government Will Liberate Raqqa From SDF Soon

A senior Iranian official said on Friday that Syrian government forces will soon recapture Raqqa, once ISIS’s de-facto capital, from the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Reuters reported.

Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, also said that the Syrian government will retake positions captured by the SDF on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor.

“We will witness in the near future the advance of government and popular forces in Syria and east of the Euphrates, and the liberation of Raqqa city,” he was quoted as saying.

The SDF recaptured Raqqa from ISIS last month, after a five-month-long campaign against the militant group.

Last week, the Syrian government said it deemed Raqqa “occupied” until the Syrian army entered into the city.

The remarks signal a looming confrontation between the Syrian government and the SDF over control of territory liberated from ISIS in northern and eastern Syria.

Recommended Reads

• The New York Times: After ISIS, What Comes Next?
• Al Jazeera: How Assad ‘Won the War’
• The Washington Post: Territorial Losses Suffered by Islamic State in Syria, Iraq
• BBC: What Will Happen in Syria Following I.S. Defeats?
• Al Jazeera: Burying the Dead in Syria’s Yarmouk Camp