US-backed Kurdish fighters resume anti-IS ops
A US-backed Kurdish-led alliance in the week started 7 May launched a new offensive against holdouts from the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, an official said on 8 May.
Kurdish members of the Syrian Democratic Forces -made up of Kurds, Syrian Arabs and other groups - had quit the Middle Euphrates River Valley in February after Turkey sent troops into Syria and launched an operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in its Afrin enclave.
But the SDF in the week ended on 4 May announced it was relaunching efforts to clear IS from the few areas in Syria where they maintain a presence, including in the eastern oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor near the border with Iraq.
‘This week, following an increase in coalition strikes against the final ISIS controlled areas in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces resumed offensive operations to clear the final ISIS held territory in eastern Syria,’ British Army Major General Felix Gedney, a deputy commander of the US-led coalition fighting IS, told Pentagon reporters.
The first phase of operations aims to secure the southeast portion of the Syria-Iraq border in coordination with the Iraqi security forces, Gedney said. He did not say how many IS fighters remain, though noted that local jihadists are abandoning the fight, causing tension among those remaining.
‘Observations from eastern Syria suggest that morale among ISIS fighters is sinking,’ Gedney said.
‘Frictions are mounting between native- and foreign-born ISIS fighters as ISIS’s privileged leadership continues to flee the area leaving fighters with dwindling resources and low morale. ISIS fighters continue to surrender rather than face certain death.’
He added that more than 400 IS fighters are now in SDF custody.
IS jihadists swept across large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, declaring a so-called ‘caliphate’ in areas they controlled.
But the jihadists have since lost most of that territory to various offensives in both countries.
More from Defence Notes
-
![Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain]()
Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain
Are all systems ready for the next mission? Have upgrades been applied? Are all assets aligned to deploy together, on time and fully prepared? In modern defence operations, readiness is no longer measured platform by platform. It is measured by how well people, assets, data and decisions move together — across land, sea and air.
-
![How deepening AI usage can boost efficiency and maximise effects for forces]()
How deepening AI usage can boost efficiency and maximise effects for forces
Saab has outlined how it is using artificial intelligence to make training more like electronic gaming, while the UK’s Power Size Technologies is applying the same technology to better evaluate and design vehicle capability, moving AI-enabled innovation further upstream from the frontline.
-
![From systems integrator to multi-domain solutions provider (video)]()
From systems integrator to multi-domain solutions provider (video)
Philipp von Brandenstein, Head of Corporate Communications at Rheinmetall, explains how Eurosatory 2026 marked a new stage in the company's evolution.
-
![US Pentagon pushes for major reform of defence acquisition system]()
US Pentagon pushes for major reform of defence acquisition system
The US Department of Defense has requested new contracting authorities from Congress, using the Army's MV-75 Cheyenne programme to demonstrate how competition, digital engineering and closer industry collaboration could accelerate acquisitions.
-
![US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule]()
US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule
The US government plans to accelerate production even further after achieving key B61-13 milestones months ahead of schedule, as the programme advances amid growing US-China strategic competition.
