The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led armed alliance, announced a ceasefire with Turkish-backed Syrian rebels on Monday to withdraw from Manbech in the north "as quickly as possible."
"While our fighters in the city of Manbech continue to resist to prevent the expansion of attacks west of the [Euphrates River], we have reached a ceasefire agreement in Manbech with the mediation of the United States to ensure the safety of civilians," said SDF leader Mazlum Abdi.
Abdi said the Manbech Military Council - part of the SDF and controlling the city in northern Aleppo province - "which has resisted attacks since November 27, will withdraw from the area as soon as possible," according to a statement.
The Levant Liberation Organization (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS), the former Syrian affiliate of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network that overthrew the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, also announced that it had captured the city of Deir al-Zur in northeastern Syria and the capital of the province of the same name from the SDF.
Lieutenant Colonel Hasan Abdelghani, military spokesman for the HTS-led coalition, assured that the rebel forces "have taken full control of the city of Deir al-Zur."
Abdelghani said that soldiers are continuing to advance on the outskirts of Deir al-Zur, located east of the Euphrates River, "after taking control of the city center as well as the western and eastern outskirts."
On Tuesday, the SDF had begun to withdraw from Deir al-Zur.
The city is home to the fundamentalist group Islamic State (IS) and followers of the regime who are similar to IS, said Farhad al-Shami, a spokesman for the SDF, who added that this was the reason why they had "withdrawn".
"The situation is now stable among the population," the spokesman for the alliance, backed by the United States, assured, without giving further details.
On Saturday, the HTS announced that it had entered the city.
On Friday, the SDF had said that the deployment of units was in Deir al-Zur, after the withdrawal of the Syrian Army and Iranian militias.
The alliance led by Syrian Kurds, which also includes Arabs and Assyrians, noted that the capture of the city was carried out to protect it from "mercenary groups affiliated with the Turkish occupation", referring to the rebel coalition, which includes the rebels supported by Ankara, as well as due to fears that IS could regroup and expand throughout the country. territory.
On 8 December, the rebels declared Damascus 'free' from President Bashar al-Assad, after a 12-day offensive by a coalition led by the Islamist group HTS, together with other factions supported by Turkey, to overthrow the Syrian regime.
In the face of the rebel offensive, Assad, who had been in power for 24 years, abandoned the country and went into exile in Russia.
In power for more than half a century in Syria, the Baath party was, for many Syrians, a symbol of repression, which began in 1970 with the arrival to power, through a coup d'état, of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, who led the country until his death in 2000.
