The 'Islamic State' Group Exits Aleppo Province After Four Years

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Friday, June 30, that the 'Islamic State' group is no longer present in Aleppo province. This group has retreated from villages under its control as government forces advance. According to Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 'this group has exited from 17 towns and villages in Aleppo province and is no longer present there after four years of control.' Government forces are advancing in the southeastern areas of Aleppo province along the highway that connects Hama province to Raqqa in the east. A source from the Syrian army in Aleppo province also confirmed the retreat of the 'Islamic State' group. This source told AFP, 'Our military operations continue, and ISIS has retreated from rural areas of Aleppo towards rural areas of Hama and Raqqa provinces.' Since early 2015, offensive operations against areas controlled by the 'Islamic State' group have begun on various fronts, gradually reclaiming all areas under its control in Aleppo province. Syrian Kurdish forces and their Arab allies, supported by the U.S., expelled 'Islamic State' fighters from Kobani on the Turkish border in 2015 and from the strategic city of Manbij last year. Turkish-backed Syrian rebels also recaptured the city of Al-Bab in February, and Syrian government forces have gradually taken over areas controlled by this group in southern Aleppo province. In Raqqa, the neighboring province of Aleppo, U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces are advancing in their offensive to besiege this city. Raqqa, the provincial capital of the same name, was the self-proclaimed capital of the 'Caliphate' of the Islamic State group in Syria.