In the last Syrian province largely under Islamic State control, U.S.-backed forces are on a collision course with the Syrian and Russian militaries as both sides scramble to strengthen their hands ahead of postwar negotiations.
The contest for territory is playing out in Deir Ezzour, an oil-rich province where Islamic State has fought to protect its revenue streams and preserve what remains of its rapidly shrinking caliphate.
The Damascus-based Syrian government, backed by Russia and Iran, wants Deir Ezzour’s resources to repair a shattered economy and replenish its coffers by exporting oil. It could also help Tehran establish a route over land to Beirut to support its Lebanese allies.
The U.S.-backed forces, who are led by Kurds, are also fighting Islamic State but wary of giving ground to the Syrian regime. Kurdish leaders want to use the province’s wealth as a bargaining chip that could help them secure greater autonomy in Syria.
“The Kurds are trying to get as many cards in their hands as possible for the time when everyone sits around the table to play the big game. The scorecards that everyone will be looking at when they sit around the table and think, ‘Who has the most and can ask for the most?” said a senior Western diplomat who is based in the Middle East and focused on the Syria conflict.
With these different armed groups closing in on Deir Ezzour, forces backed by the U.S. and Russia are sometimes fighting within a few miles of each other, raising the risk of missteps that could inflame tensions.
On Saturday, Russian military forces attacked a location in Deir Ezzour east of the Euphrates River where they knew troops from the U.S.-led coalition and allied Syrian rebels were operating, the U.S. military said.
The strike injured several members of the U.S.-backed group, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, according to a statement from the U.S.-led coalition. The statement added that the U.S. would seek talks with its Russian counterparts to avoid future conflicts.
The incident is the latest of several where different sides fighting Islamic State have collided in Syria. In June, the U.S. military downed a Syrian government warplane after it had attacked Syrian Democratic Forces on the ground.
Western diplomats representing countries closely allied with the U.S. say that Washington’s plans in Syria are unclear and it lacks a longer-term strategic objective beyond driving Islamic State from Raqqa, the de facto Syrian capital of its self-declared caliphate.
“The U.S. knows what it’s doing in…the short term,” said a Western diplomat. “First Raqqa and then let’s see.”
As Islamic State’s so-called caliphate crumbles, could its fall mean the resurgence of its ideological rival, al Qaeda? WSJ’s Niki Blasina explains why the terror group, once the most feared on the planet, could be more dangerous than ever. Photo: Getty Images.
The U.S. military said Sunday it was working with its allies in Syria to defeat Islamic State and agreeing with Moscow on ways to avoid the risk of conflict “while ensuring physical separation between regime and antiregime forces.”
Even as Washington and Moscow discuss ways to avoid clashes in Syria, Russian forces continue to support the Syrian regime’s march on Deir Ezzour.
The Russian military provided extensive air support to Syrian government forces during their lightning advance on Deir Ezzour. And this past week, Russia’s defense ministry launched a major public-relations offensive to capitalize on those gains by the central government.
Russian military helicopters ferried international news crews to Deir Ezzour on Friday, capturing scenes of life returning to a semblance of normalcy in government-held areas of the provincial capital, also known as Deir Ezzour.
The Russian military also brought reporters to Okeirbat, a town in central Syria that was recaptured from Islamic State militants at the beginning of the month, enabling the government advance.
The town, emptied of inhabitants, still bore signs of heavy fighting, including airstrikes that had penetrated concrete warehouses Islamic State fighters used for maintaining captured tanks and converting armored vehicles into massive suicide bombs, Russian military officials said.
Lt. Gen. Alexander Lapin, chief of staff of Russian forces in Syria, told journalists that Syrian government forces, supported by Russian air power, engaged in house-to-house fighting to dislodge fighters from fortified positions and a network of underground tunnels.
“A key breakthrough took place here in the fight against ISIS,” he said, referring to Islamic State. “The successful and decisive offensive on Deir Ezzour began from here.”