ISLAMIC STATE
In another alarming development for Assad, the head of the US-backed Syrian Kurdish force said the Islamic State group, which imposed a reign of terror over swathes of Iraq and Syria before its defeat by a US-led coalition in 2017, had now taken control of some areas in eastern Syria.
“Due to the recent developments, there is increased movement by Islamic State mercenaries in the Syrian desert, in the south and west of Deir Al-Zor and the countryside of al-Raqqa,” Mazloum Abdi told reporters, referring to areas in Syria’s east.
Rebels led by HTS have sought to capitalise on their swift takeover of Aleppo in the north and Hama in west-central Syria by pressing onwards to Homs, another 40km south.
A rebel operations room urged Homs residents in an online post to rise up, saying: “Your time has come.”
Russian bombing overnight destroyed the Rastan bridge along the M5 highway, the main route to Homs, to prevent rebels from using it to advance, a Syrian army officer told Reuters.
Aron Lund, a fellow at the think-tank Century Foundation, said the government was “fighting for their lives at this point”.
It was possible the government could hold Homs “but given the speed at which things have moved so far, I wouldn’t count on it”.
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