Situation in Syria remained tense as fighting escalated after government forces said they had captured the strategic town of Tabaqa from Kurdish militia forces during their rapid advancement towards the key Kurdish stronghold of Raqqa in the north.
Syria’s state news agency confirmed that the army had captured the northern town of Tabaqa, while also seizing the area east of Deir al-Zour, and taking full control of Deir Hafer while capturing the Jerrah airbase further east.
The government intensified its offensive in areas held by the Kurdish rebel group, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), especially after President Ahmad al-Sharaa ordered the forces to reclaim the country’s resources. This came after the US launched a third round of retaliatory strikes against the ISIS group on Saturday to avenge the death of US nationals in a December 13 ambush.
However, Syria also accused SDF of executing detainees in the city of Al-Tabaqa on Sunday.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said the Syrian Government “holds this organisation [SDF] fully responsible, pledges to the families of the martyrs that fair legal accountability will be pursued, and calls on the international community to condemn this crime”.
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While the armed forces reported that four of their soldiers had been killed in attacks led by Kurdish fighters, the SDF also claimed that some of its fighters had died in battle, but did not release a number.
Earlier on Saturday, the Syrian Petroleum Company confirmed that the oilfields in Rasafa and Sufyan near Deir Hafer had been recaptured and could soon be brought back online.
According to government sources, Kurdish fighters had withdrawn from the al-Omar and al-Tanak oilfields in eastern Deir al-Zour as Syrian troops seized control of the country’s largest al-Omar oilfield.
Additionally, according to the country’s largest news syndicate, “retreating SDF forces destroyed two bridges on the Euphrates River leading to Raqqa city as Syria’s government ramps up its advances into the governorate”.
Recently, President al-Sharaa issued a decree recognising Kurdish as a “national language” and granting the tribe a minority official status.
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