Anti-Daesh assaults gain ground in Iraq, Syria

MOSUL: Iraqi forces advanced in west Mosul and fighters in neighboring Syria seized a key supply route to Raqqa Monday, as twin US-backed offensives gained ground against Daesh.
Supported by the US-led anti-Daesh coalition, Iraqi forces and a Kurdish-Arab alliance in Syria are battling to push the extremists from Mosul and Raqqa, the last two major urban centers under their control.
In Iraq, security forces retook a series of government buildings that were one of the targets of a renewed push in west Mosul launched on Sunday, the Joint Operations Command said.
The Pentagon said it has sent additional US troops into northern Syria in a show of strength aimed at deterring rival powers from targeting each other instead of the Daesh group.
Defense Department spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the troops have in recent days entered Manbij.
“We have brought in some additional forces to be able to do this reassurance and deterrence mission,” Davis said, without giving numbers.
In Syria, US-backed forces on Monday cut off a key supply route between Daesh stronghold Raqqa and the group’s territory in Deir Ez Zor province.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, seized control of the only major road linking Raqqa along the Euphrates valley to Deir Ez Zor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. “The route... linking Raqqa to Deir Ez Zor was cut this morning,” an SDF commander confirmed.
On another front, the Observatory reported heavy regime airstrikes and shelling on the area around the oil and gas fields in eastern Homs as government forces battled Daesh.
Activists and the Observatory, meanwhile, said Daesh has imposed an “Afghan-style” dress code in Raqqa to help its fighters blend into the civilian population.
Meanwhile, Turkey will allow the family of a Syrian air force pilot whose warplane crashed on Turkish territory to visit him at the hospital where he is being treated, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a broadcaster.
“This is a humanitarian issue. Permission will be granted (for the visit),” Yildirim said, adding that a commission would be set up to investigate the cause of the crash. The decision on whether or not to return the pilot will be made following his treatment, a Turkish Cabinet minister said.
The 56-year-old pilot bailed out of his Mig-23 warplane as it crashed in Turkey’s Hatay region and was found by a Turkish rescue team. In his initial testimony to Turkish authorities, he said his aircraft was shot down on its way to strike rural areas near Idlib.