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On Thursday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that its fighters captured Markada town in the southern al-Hasakah countryside.
The SDF added that 24 other villages around Markada were captured by it also, confirming that the western bank of the Khabur river is now under its fully control.
Markada is located 75km south of al-Hasakah city and 75km northwest of Deir Ezzor city on the highway between the two cities. By this it’s safe to say that ISIS lost its last strategic town in Syria.
In the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside, the SDF reportedly repelled an ISIS attack on its positions around the Omar oil fields. The SDF said that its fighters killed 4 ISIS members during the clashes around the oil fields.
Moreover, the Syrian-Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported that heavy clashes between the SDF and ISIS are taking place around al-Busayrah town in the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside. The town is besieged by the SDF and will likely fall into the hands of US-backed forces in the near future.
A part of the Syrian-Iraqi border north of the eastern bank of the Euphrates River will become the next SDF target. The SDF will likely face little resistance from ISIS because its members have withdrawn to the desert area inside Iraq.
