BEIRUT (Reuters) – A newly formed US-backed Syrian rebel alliance yesterday launched an offensive against Islamic State in the northeast province of Hasaka, a day after the United States said it would send special forces to advise insurgents fighting the jihadists.
It was the first declared operation by the Democratic Forces of Syria, which joins together a US-backed Kurdish militia and several Syrian Arab rebel groups, since it announced its formation earlier this month.
World powers and regional rivals are convening in Vienna to seek a solution to the four-year conflict in Syria that has escalated since Russia intervened a month ago with an intense air campaign.
Fighting in Hasaka had begun after midnight, a spokesman for the alliance said. A group monitoring the war reported fighting and coalition air strikes in the area.
A video posted earlier on YouTube announced the offensive in southern Hasaka, and showed several dozen men in fatigues standing outdoors with yellow flags and banners carrying the name of the Democratic Forces of Syria in Arabic and Kurdish.
The campaign would “continue until all occupied areas in Hasaka are freed from Daesh,” a spokesman for the alliance’s general command said in the video, using an Arabic name for IS. He urged residents to stay away from IS-controlled areas of Hasaka.
Another spokesman later said alliance forces had already attacked Islamic State fighters.
“The battle began after midnight,” Talal Salu told Reuters via internet messaging service. “They were flanked by our forces… (who) thwarted a counter attack.”
The United States’ decision to station ground troops in Syria comes after it dropped ammunition to rebel groups in northern Syria several weeks ago.