Syrian army announces full control of Deir Hafer

The Syrian army is moving to take control of areas previously held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the governorate of Aleppo.

The forces on Saturday entered Deir Hafer, located some 50km (30 miles) east of the city of Aleppo, after the SDF announced it would start withdrawing from their strongholds in the city in the early hours of the day.

The army later said its forces had taken full control of the city and were working to clear it of mines and other war remnants, according to state media. It added that it had begun moving towards Maskana town.

The announcement came after the army on Friday launched an operation against the SDF in Deir Hafer, saying it would focus on areas that the group’s forces were using “as a launching point for their terrorist operations towards the city of Aleppo and its eastern countryside”.

SDF leader Mazloum Abdi, also known as Mazloum Kobani, said in response that his forces would withdraw to the east of the Euphrates River.

In a post on X, Abdi said that “based on calls from friendly countries and mediators … we have decided to withdraw our forces tomorrow morning at 7am [04:00 GMT]” east of Aleppo “towards redeployment in areas east of the Euphrates”.

Abdi said he was withdrawing fighters “in demonstration of … our commitment to implementing the provisions of the March 10th agreement”, referring to stalled plans to integrate the Kurdish de facto autonomous administration into the Syrian state.

The army stated that it would not target SDF fighters as they withdraw.

Source - Al Jazeera