Suspected 9/11 recruiter for Al Qaeda captured in Syria, Pentagon says
AFP
Surprise IS attack kills 25 regime forces in east Syria: monitor
Beirut (AFP) - The Islamic State group launched a surprise attack near a town in eastern Syria they had lost six months ago, killing at least 25 regime forces, a monitor said Thursday.
At least 13 jihadists were also killed in the attack which IS carried out near Mayadeen on Wednesday afternoon, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
Mayadeen lies in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on the western bank of the Euphrates River and is flanked by the vast Badia desert to its west and south.
A military source on Thursday however denied any attack against positions of the Syrian army along the western bank of the Euphrates.
But intermittent bombardment on army positions from its eastern bank had prompted retaliation with suitable weapons, the source said.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, control most of the territory to the east of the Euphrates, where a few villages are still under IS control.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said Thursday morning "IS attempts to advance in the direction of the town of Mayadeen are ongoing" from the Badia desert.
He said it was the "largest IS attack since they were expelled from the town" by regime forces and their allies in October 2017.
IS swept across large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, declaring a cross-border "caliphate" in areas they controlled.
At its height their pseudo state covered an area the size of Italy, but IS has since lost most of it to a Russia-backed regime assault and a US-backed SDF offensive.
IS now control around five percent of Syria, according to Syria expert Fabrice Balanche.
But the jihadists have retained their ability to carry out deadly attacks. They hold pockets in Deir Ezzor and are present in the southern districts of the capital.
Since regaining full control of Eastern Ghouta to the northeast of Damascus from rebels last week, the regime has turned its attention to jihadist-held districts in the capital's south.
More than 350,000 people have been killed since Syria's war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
Newsweek
German Islamist Linked to 9/11 Hijackers Captured in Syria
Kurdish forces in northern Syria said they have captured a German-Syrian Islamist who had close links to the 9/11 hijackers and claimed to have influenced the plot. A Kurdish military commander told Agence France-Presse that his forces had detained Mohammed Haydar Zammar, who is now being interrogated, the BBC reported. Zammar was described by the 9/11 Commission Report as an “outspoken, flamboyant Islamist” who “relished any opportunity to extol the virtues of violent jihad.” The U.S. coalition has not yet confirmed Zammar’s arrest. German newspaper Bild, which first reported Zammar’s capture, said he was being held in a Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) prison. The group is the dominant .
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