Konflikten i Syrien

The Italian news Agency “Aki” said that a large number of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s members started yesterday a random and rapid withdrawal from Raqqa city.

According to the agency, the streets of the city witnessed tension and abnormal movements, where some eyewitnesses stressed that “a large number of the foreign fighters had left toward Iraq.”

One of the activists in the city have denied the truthiness of this news, highlighting the fact that some defections happened within the organization, also some members have headed toward Iraq after the speech of the leader of al-Qaeda organization al-Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri.

The rebel groups' joint declaration said government forces backed by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Iraqi Abu al-Fadl Abbas militia had launched "a fierce offensive to reoccupy" Aleppo.

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Opposition sources said Iraqi Shi'ite and Hezbollah fighters based near Damascus had moved north to support the offensive on Aleppo. Hezbollah and Iran do not comment on the scale of their military involvement in Syria.

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"Regime forces aided by Hezbollah, the Iraqis and the Iranians have launched a pincer movement from the north and the east and are closing in on major neighbourhoods," he said.