Syria: IS rejects Washington-backed forces from last-ditch eastern bloc

Beirut – The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has rejected the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the United States is supporting, with its latest cut in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday. 'Man (OSDH).

SDF commander, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters, anonymously confirmed the withdrawal of Hajine's pocket, about seven weeks after the launch of an SDF offensive to oust ISIS from this border region of Iraq.

The SDF, backed by the Washington-led international anti-IS coalition, launched the final stage of an offensive on September 10 to end ISIL's presence in its last Deir Ezzor province. .

After progressing on the ground, the FDS suffered a setback last week, in the shadow of a sandstorm that complicated the aerial coverage of ground fighting.

On Friday, IS launched several lethal counter-attacks that forced the SDF to abandon all the positions it had taken.

"Thanks to the counterattacks carried out between Friday evening and Sunday at dawn, the IS took over from the FDS all the positions won in Hajine's pocket.", told AFP the director of the Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman.

According to the OSDH, 72 FDS combatants were killed in these attacks also carried out using explosive belts and car bombings. The Observatory reported the deaths of 24 jihadists.

The commander of the SDF attributed these setbacks to low ground control by his troops, exacerbated by several sandstorms.

Unlike IS, "our forces do not know the region and can not move in conditions of zero visibility", he told AFP.

"Military reinforcements and heavy weapons have been sent to the front and some units will be replaced by more experienced units"added the commander.We will launch a new military campaign as soon as these reinforcements arrive".

Since September 10, fighting has left about 500 dead among jihadists and 300 in the ranks of the SDS, according to the OSDH.

The IS had conquered in 2014 large parts of the Syrian territory before being cornered in some pockets.

Since 2011, the Syrian conflict has killed more than 360,000 people and forced nearly half of the population to flee their homes.