Rebels take Deir Ezzor from Kurds' hands, truce in Manbij after 218 killed

Insurgents who overthrew the Syrian government now say they have wrested control of the eastern city of Deir Ezzor after intense battles with a Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed force.

Syria’s rebel military command announced Tuesday evening that they had completely captured the city of Deir Ezzor.

A member of the jihadi group Hayat al-Tahrir, which leads the insurgent alliance, said in a recorded video that the group would soon conduct a thorough sweep of the city’s neighborhoods to secure the area, adding that the strategic nearby town of Boukamal has also fallen to opposition forces.

“We will advance toward Raqqa and Hasakah and other areas in eastern Syria,” the HTS fighters said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces had only held the city for a few days. The SDF said it deployed to Deir Ezzor and west of the Euphrates River on Friday, replacing Syrian government forces. At the time, the SDF said its fighters were not in control of the Boukamal border crossing with Iraq.

Earlier Tuesday, the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was in eastern Syria for meetings with the SDF. It wasn’t clear if he met with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi.

- Kurds announce US-brokered truce with Turkish-backed fighters in Manbij -

The chief of the Kurdish-led force controlling swathes of Syria’s northeast announced a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on Wednesday in the Arab-majority Manbij area, where clashes with Turkish-backed fighters killed 218 combatants.

"We have reached a ceasefire agreement in Manbij via U.S. mediation," said Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi, adding fighters of the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council "will be withdrawn from the area as soon as possible".