Tabnak – While the US-led international coalition in Syria has tried hard recently to prevent the Syrian Army from reaching the areas bordering Iraq, it was announced today that the army has finally managed to reach the Iraqi border. The move could have wide-ranging effects on the whole situation on the ground in the war-torn country.
A Syrian military source announced today that the first units of the Syrian Army troops and popular forces continued to advance against the terrorist groups in Syria's Badiya region and deployed at the borders with Iraq Northeast of al-Tanf border-crossing, starting to fortify their positions in the region.
The source reported that the Syrian pro-government forces managed to advance against the terrorists from Jaliqam crossroad and Khebreh al-Shahmeh 4km away from al-Tanf border-crossing and al-Zarfa crossroad that end up in the towns of al-Mayadeen and Albu Kamal in Southeastern Deir Ezzur, reaching the border with Iraq after prevailing over the defense lines of the terrorists of al-Soud al-Sharqiyeh and going 30km deep into their positions.
The source further said that with the recent advance, the army has closed off the path to the US and British forces, preventing their penetration from Southern Syria to the Eastern Deir Ezzur province. Badiya extends over some 90,000 square kilometers from central Syria to the Iraqi and Jordanian borders.
A very important aspect of the recent Syrian Army’s achievement is that the US has declared the surrounding 55 kilometers around the southeastern town of al-Tanf a de-confliction zone, in which only forces allied to Washington are allowed entry. Over the past months, the US-led forces have struck Syrian government forces near al-Tanf three times.
The US decision to establish the de-confliction zone comes as Russia, with backing from Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran, brokered a deal for establishing "de-escalation zones" in mainly militant-held areas of Syria during ceasefire talks in the Kazakh capital city of Astana in early May.
In a separate development, the Syrian Army troops continued to hit terrorists' centers hard in Eastern Ghouta and managed to take control over a vast region with several strategic hills and positions, enhancing the capital city's security.
The army units engaged in fierce clashes with terrorists and drove them out of vast regions between Tishrin thermal power plant up to the key hill of al-Dakou in Eastern Damascus with 550sq/km of area, reopening the road to the power plant.
A military source underlined the strategic importance of Tal al-Dekou, saying that the newly-captured hill links the Northern part of the Eastern Badiyeh (desert) to its Southern part and overlooks a vast region.
All in all, it seems that the Army, together with its popular allied forces are determined to continue their path toward liberating as much regions across the country as possible, even though the US-led coalition has actually geared up to prevent them from gaining further achievements. Whether this would led to an actual confrontation between the two sides is still a matter of wait and see.
