{"id":41846,"date":"2017-09-09T13:42:02","date_gmt":"2017-09-09T13:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/09\/syrian-army-in-race-with-us-armed-fighters-for-eastern-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:20:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:20:06","slug":"syrian-army-in-race-with-us-armed-fighters-for-eastern-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/09\/09\/syrian-army-in-race-with-us-armed-fighters-for-eastern-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Syrian army in race with US-armed fighters for eastern Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIRUT \u2014 U.S.-backed Syrian fighters launched an offensive against the Islamic State group in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq on Saturday, bringing them into a race with government forces marching in the same direction against the extremists in their last major holdout in the war-torn country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dueling battles for Deir el-Zour highlight the importance of the oil-rich eastern province, which has become the latest epicenter of the international war against the Islamic State group, raising concerns of an eventual clash between the two sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S.-trained Deir el-Zour Military Council said it was calling its operation Jazeera Storm, after the familiar name for northeast Syria. The Military Council is a part of the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, which enjoys broad U.S. military support. SDF are the U.S.\u2018s primary ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race to reach the Iraqi border will shape future regional dynamics, determining whether the United States or Russia and Iran will have more influence in the strategic area once the extremist group is defeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran has been one of President Bashar Assad\u2019s strongest backers since the crisis began in March 2011 and has sent thousands of Iranian-backed fighters and advisers to fight against insurgent groups trying to remove him from power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S.-backed fighters are up against a huge challenge to reach Deir el-Zour, especially while they are still fighting to liberate Raqqa from ISIS. Three months into the battle, they have liberated around 60 percent of the city, and much more difficult urban fighting still lies ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, Syrian troops and their Iranian-backed allies reached Deir el-Zour, breaking a nearly three-year-old ISIS siege on government-held parts of the city in a major breakthrough in their offensive against ISIS. In a victory statement, the Syrian military said Deir el-Zour will be used as a launching pad to liberate the remaining ISIS-held areas along the border with Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troops\u2019 arrival to Deir el-Zour city brings Syrian forces and their allies a step closer to controlling the oil-rich eastern province and its capital bordering Iraq, a major boost for Tehran\u2019s growing influence in the area. The region has some of Syria\u2019s largest oil fields, whose revenue is vital to the state\u2019s dried coffers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syria\u2019s military command announced Saturday they had captured the province\u2019s Taym oil field from ISIS militants on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington has been determined to block the formation of an \u201cIranian corridor\u201d \u2014 of Shiite-controlled land stretching from Tehran to Damascus \u2014 and for months has been eyeing the area southeast of Raqqa near the Iraqi border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S.-backed Syrian rebels had been gathering in Tanf in southeastern Syria to march toward Deir el-Zour, but their plans were disrupted in June when Syrian troops reached the border with Iraq, obstructing their path. The only way left for the SDF to enter the eastern province appears to be from the northeastern province of Hassakeh, where Syrian activists say the U.S.-backed fighters have been gathering and stepping up preparations for an attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SDF officials say the timing of Operation Jazeera Storm is not related to government forces reaching the Deir el-Zour earlier this week, and was planned months in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDeir el-Zour is a main connection point and a very important geographic area,\u201d said Syrian Kurdish official Nawaf Khalil, who is in Germany but frequently visits northern Syria. He said the battle for Raqqa requires fewer fighters now than it did in its earlier stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A picture taken on Sept. 5, 2017, shows a general view of damaged buildings in the western al-Daraiya neighborhood of the embattled northern Syrian city of Raqqa, as members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group. (Delil Souleiman\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS said in an email to The Associated Press that the SDF \u201cwill decide when the conditions are right for an offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about concerns of a possible clash between the SDF and Syrian troops, the coalition said: \u201cWe urge all forces to concentrate their efforts on our common enemy (ISIS).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington has welcomed Syrian troops\u2019 fight against ISIS. Both the U.S. and Russia have an interest in avoiding a clash between the SDF and Syrian forces and may devise a strategy that will allow both sides to share control of the vast province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. officials have suggested they are not seeking a confrontation with Assad\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are in the killing-ISIS business. That is what we want to do, and if the Syrian regime wants to do that … and show that they are doing just that in Abu Kamal or Deir el-Zour or elsewhere, that means that we don\u2019t have to do that in those places,\u201d said coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon in June referring to a town on the Iraqi border, and using a different acronym for ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said last month during a visit to the Middle East that the Middle Euphrates River Valley will soon be liberated, as ISIS takes hits from both sides of the valley that bisects Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou see, ISIS is now caught in between converging forces,\u201d Mattis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t