Syria Army, Kurds Push IS out of Hasakeh City
Syrian troops and Kurdish fighters ousted the Islamic State group from Hasakeh Tuesday, more than a month after the jihadists launch an assault on the northeastern city, a monitoring group said.
Government troops and Kurdish forces, who share control of the city, had been battling since June 25 to push IS forces out of the city, which is the capital of Hasakeh province.
IS "was expelled by the army from Zuhur, the last district in which it was present in Hasakeh, and its fighters have been pushed to the southern outskirts of the city," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.
At least 287 IS fighters, among them 26 minors, had been killed in the fight for Hasakeh, as well as strikes by the U.S.-led coalition outside the city, he said.
Another 120 soldiers and pro-regime militiamen and several dozen Kurdish forces were also killed.
State news agency SANA said Syria's armed forces "dealt great blows to the Daesh (IS) terrorists... in Zuhur" Tuesday, but did not say the jihadists had been pushed out of the city.
"Army units advanced again into Zuhur, where they executed a special operation against the terrorist hotbeds", it reported.
IS has attacked Hasakeh city several times, but the latest assault was the most serious yet.
Its forces initially seized several districts in the southern part of the city, with Kurdish fighters and regime troops mobilizing against them.
The Observatory said IS had used at least 21 car bombs and several suicide bombers during the month-long campaign.
Source: Agence France Presse
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