ISIS Captures Parts of Al-Bukamal City in Syria

Reports indicate that the Islamic State group, ISIS, has managed to capture parts of the city of Al-Bukamal in the Deir ez-Zor province of Syria, near the border with Iraq. According to the French news agency, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, stated that ISIS forces used at least 10 suicide bombers in their attack on Al-Bukamal. Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that this attack appears to be the largest military operation by ISIS since November 2017, resulting in the deaths of at least 25 Syrian government forces. He added that ISIS currently controls parts of the city and that the battle has reached the city center. According to Rami Abdulrahman, in addition to the suicide bombers, 18 other Islamist fighters were also killed in these attacks. The Syrian government has not yet reacted to reports of casualties in the Al-Bukamal clashes. Al-Bukamal is located on the banks of the Euphrates River, 440 kilometers east of Damascus. Last year, forces allied with Bashar al-Assad's government managed to reclaim this area from ISIS. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that ISIS currently controls about three percent of Syrian territory. Reports indicate that ISIS forces also conducted operations on Sunday in villages along the Euphrates River, between Al-Bukamal and the center of Deir ez-Zor province. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 45 government forces and their allies were killed in the Sunday attacks, most of whom were Shia militants. In this context, the Iraqi army announced that on Thursday, Iraqi F-16 aircraft bombed an ISIS control and command center where ISIS commanders and militants were present. The Iraqi army stated that the location of this attack was the town of Hajin on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor province. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, declared a caliphate on June 29, 2014, at the Great Mosque of Mosul. The group quickly managed to seize a large part of Syrian and Iraqi territory. At the height of its power, ISIS controlled nearly one-third of Iraqi territory.