Syrian rebels take control over Deir Ezzor

“We announce the city of Deir Ezzor and its military airport as completely liberated,” Military Operations Command spokesperson Hassan Abdul Ghani was quoted as saying by CNN.

An SDF source told CNN that the Kurdish forces have withdrawn only from the western bank of the Euphrates in Deir Ezzor city.

The US-backed SDF had taken control of the region in 2017 after ISIS forces were driven out of the area.

Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping the Syrian people to create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.

“Syria is now at a crossroads with great opportunities for us, but also with grave risks. And we need really to look at both,” said Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria. “We know that, of course, HTS is now the dominant group in control of Damascus, but it's important also to remember that they are not the only armed group in Damascus.”

Amid images of jubilant scenes on the streets of the capital following the end of the Assad regime, Pedersen cautioned that the transfer of power had been accompanied by reports of robberies and the “invasion of public buildings or private homes. But this seems to have stopped and that is a good thing,” he told journalists in Geneva.