• A Syrian pro-government member watches as smoke rises from buildings following an airstrike by government forces in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, on Tuesday during an operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadis. The Assad regime has been able to recapture more than half of Syria's territory with the support of Russian airstrikes. It is now focusing on the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where the SDF alliance is also involved. | AFP-JIJI
    A Syrian pro-government member watches as smoke rises from buildings following an airstrike by government forces in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, on Tuesday during an operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadis. The Assad regime has been able to recapture more than half of Syria's territory with the support of Russian airstrikes. It is now focusing on the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where the SDF alliance is also involved. | AFP-JIJI

  • Reuters

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BEIRUT – With Islamic State near defeat in Syria, Damascus is setting its sights on territory held by Kurdish-led forces, including eastern oil fields, risking a new confrontation that could draw the United States in more deeply and complicate Russian diplomacy.

President Bashar Assad and his Iranian allies appear to have been emboldened by events in Iraq, where Kurdish authorities have suffered a major blow since regional states mobilized against their independence referendum, analysts say.

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