Islamic State Makes Gains Against Assad Forces in Syrian City of Deir Ezzour

Extremists seize government-held areas in push to drive regime from last foothold in eastern city

An image from a November video shows a Russian airstrike on an Islamic State-held site in Deir Ezzour. Such strikes haven’t prevented the extremist group from going on the offensive. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

BEIRUT—Islamic State fighters captured new ground from Assad regime forces in the Syrian city of Deir Ezzour in the third day of an offensive in which hundreds have been killed or abducted, according to an opposition monitoring group.

Islamic State already controls most of the eastern city and the province that is also called Deir Ezzour. Since Saturday, it has waged a new push to drive the regime from its last foothold in the city on the west bank of the Euphrates River, which cuts the city in half. The Syrian government-held areas of the city, which include an air base, have been under Islamic State siege for at least one year.

Islamic State’s campaign in Deir Ezzour shows that airstrikes by the U.S., France and Russia haven’t prevented the group from going on the offensive. Oil-rich Deir Ezzour borders Iraq’s Anbar province, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces are also battling Islamic State.

The Sunni extremists captured much of the town of Ayyash on the city’s west side, including an arms depot, on Monday, according to a rights monitoring group and antigovernment activists. They also took control of some territory in the neighboring town of al Boghaliyyah.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group, said Monday that the death toll had climbed to at least 135 people in Assad regime-held areas by Sunday, including 50 government soldiers and allied militiamen, and 42 Islamic State fighters. Over the weekend, the group reported that Islamic State had abducted at least 400 civilians, including family members of regime forces, as it launched its assault.

An opposition media service, Deir Ezzor24, said 65 regime forces and 22 Islamic State militants were killed in the fighting.

Syria’s state news agency SANA, reported that 300 civilians were killed in the fighting and called it a massacre. Islamic State-linked news agency Aamaq claimed to have killed 167 members of Mr. Assad’s military forces and allied militiamen.

Both the Syrian regime and the antigovernment activist group known as Deir Ezzour Is Being Slaughtered Silently also reported that Islamic State abducted hundreds of civilians from the town of al Boghaliyyah in Deir Ezzour province and transported them to an unknown location. The reports couldn’t be independently confirmed.

In a letter to the United Nations Secretary General and the head of the UN Security Council, Syria’s foreign ministry asked for the international community’s support in fighting terrorism, saying Islamic State was “murdering, slaughtering, and shooting innocent civilians, claiming the lives of more than 280 civilians, most of them women, children, and elderly people,” according to SANA.

Islamic State gained control over the majority of Deir Ezzour city and province by December 2014. Local tribesmen who rose up to oppose it have been brutally massacred. Before the latest push by Islamic State against the regime, the two sides had largely avoided confrontation. Some local residents had even spoke of a deal between them to facilitate the sale of oil from the province.

“The battles are ongoing and there is a possibility of Daesh advancing further,” said opposition activist Jad al Hussein, using another name for Islamic State. Mr. Hussein is from Deir Ezzour but spoke from Turkey and said he was in contact with sources inside the province.

“After a year under siege, the people’s morale is low and the same goes for the [regime] fighters,” he added.

Around 200,000 people, most women and children, are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance in the besieged western side of Deir Ezzour city, the United Nations said in a statement late last week. Surrounded by Islamic State militants who restrict movement and aid access, the U.N. office for humanitarian affairs reported cases of malnutrition and death by starvation.

“The town has not had any electricity supply for over 10 months and there is only very little fuel available,” the report said, adding that prices for basic staples such as sugar had surged.

Source: Islamic State Makes Gains Against Assad Forces in Syrian City of Deir Ezzour – WSJ