ISIS has forced a US-backed coalition of Kurdish and Arab forces to withdraw from its holdout in eastern Syria, as part of a concerted counterattack launched by militants two days earlier.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are backed by air strikes of the US-led coalition, have retreated from the Hajin pocket near the Iraqi border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.
"In counterattacks since Friday to Sunday dawn, ISIS has taken back all positions to which the SDF had advanced inside the Hajin pocket," the monitoring group's chief Rami Abdel Rahman says.
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The Observatory reported 72 SDF fighters killed, as ISIS took advantage of storms that hampered coalition air cover and dispatched suicide bombers as part of their fightback.
The SDF launched its campaign to retake the ISIS holdout in Deir Ezzor province on September 10.
But they have faced a fierce fightback from the extremists, including under the cover of sandstorms, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
An SDF commander, asking not to be named, confirmed Sunday's retreat and said that his forces had faced a "strong dust storm" and lacked local knowledge of the terrain.
Unlike ISIS, "our forces don't know the area and can't move around in conditions of zero visibility," he said.
"Military reinforcements and heavy weapons have been sent to the front and some units will be replaced by more experienced ones," the commander said.
"We will launch a new military campaign as soon as those reinforcements have arrived," he said.
The coalition estimates that 2,000 ISIS fighters remain in the Hajin area. More than 300 SDF fighters and around 500 ISIS jihadists have been killed in the past seven weeks of fighting, the Observatory says.
Shiite paramilitary groups are on alert on the Iraqi side of the border following ISIS’s advance, according to Step News Agency, a Syrian activist-run media outlet.
ISIS overran large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a "caliphate" across lands it controlled. But the extremist group has since lost most of that territory to various offensives in both countries.
In Syria, its presence has been reduced to parts of the vast Badia desert also in the east and the Hajin pocket.
Separately, Turkey's military on Sunday fired artillery shells at a Kurdish militia in Syria that is backed by the United States but deemed a terrorist group by Ankara.
The shells targeted "shelters" of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) east of the Euphrates River in the Kobane region of northern Syria, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The move comes two days after President Tayyip Erdogan issued what he said was a "final warning" to those who would endanger Turkey's borders, saying Ankara was determined to focus its attention on Syrian Kurdish fighters east of the Euphrates.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, according to the Kurdish Hawar news agency.
The bombardment targeted the Zor Magar area to the west of northern Syria's Ayn Al Arab region and was aimed at preventing "terrorist activities", Anadolu reported.
Turkey considers the YPG militia a terrorist organisation and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led an insurgency in Turkey for more than three decades.
Turkey carried out an offensive against YPG forces in northern Syria's Afrin region earlier this year.
The YPG took control of large areas of northeast Syria in 2012 as government forces pulled out to fight rebels in the west.
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
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Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Background: Chemical Weapons
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Profession: Senior sports presenter and producer
Marital status: Single
Favourite book: Al Nabi by Jibran Khalil Jibran
Favourite food: Italian and Lebanese food
Favourite football player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Languages: Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
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In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
More coverage from the Future Forum
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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
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What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
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