Konflikten i Syrien

Speaking during a joint press conference with Ryan Dillon, spokesman of the U.S.-led coalition against IS, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, said those fighters re mostly foreign nationals.

“Based on the information available to us, there had been an infighting among local and foreign IS elements, as some wanted to surrender while others insisted on fighting,” Rasoul stated.

The situation in Syria is reaching another critical point. There is an increased possibility of a large scale clash between U.S. and Russian forces. We had warned of such a clash over control of the rich fields east of Deir Ezzor. At least three incidents over the last days point to more significant escalations.

On the 17th the U.S. accused Russia of a light air attack on its proxy forces north of Deir Ezzor. Russia denied that it had attacked those forces.
On the 18th and 19th large contingents of Russian and Syrian troops crossed the Euphrates at Deir Ezzor in east-Syria. The U.S. Kurdish/Arab proxy force in the area actively tried to hinder that movement.
In parallel a large al-Qaeda attack was launched in west-Syria. The Russian forces accuse U.S. intelligence services of having initiated that campaign. (The Syrian-Russian forces defeated the attack.)
Today the Russian military accused the U.S. Kurdish proxies near Deir Ezzor of firing artillery on its forces. It threatened massive retaliation.

The most dramatic incident was the al-Qaeda attack in Idleb.

Al-Qaeda in Syria, renamed to Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, currently controls Idleb governate and Idleb city in north-west Syria. On September 19 it launched a large scale attack on Syrian government positions in north Hama, south of Idleb provinces. The al-Qaeda forces gained significant grounds before being stopped and forced to retreat. Nearly all the heavy weapons, tanks and artillery, that al-Qaeda had in the area were used and in the attack.

The spokesperson of the Russian military said (vid with English subtitles) that, according to Russian intelligence reports, al-Qaeda's attack was made on behalf of the U.S. to slow down the Syrian-Russian campaign in the eastern province Deir Ezzor. A subtask for the terrorists was to capture a platoon of Russian soldiers. This is, to my knowledge, the first time that Russia made such a direct and extremely grave accusation against the U.S. forces and intelligence services in Syria.

Moments ago, Islamic State commanders reached an agreement with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) to evacuate all their fighters from the last stretch of ISIS-held territory in Hama province.

According to Al-Masdar News correspondent Ibrahim Joudeh, jihadist militants have already begun to leave the villages and towns of Soha, Abu Hubailat, Akash, Al-Barghouthyah and Umm Mil, all located along the M-45 highway in the southeastern countryside of Hama.

The military source added that around 1,000 ISIS militants and family members were to be transferred from Hama to Deir Ezzor in a deal signed by the SAA on Thursday evening.

The evacuation is expected to reach a conclusion before the end of the week, Ibrahim Joudeh added. The ISIS-held villages in central Homs are also expected to be handed over shortly.