Alwaght- ISIS terrorist group has reportedly moved its de facto capital in Syria to the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor, as a large scale operation is underway to liberate the northern city.
Fox News quoted unnamed US defense officials as saying that terrorists and their military command are now centered some 140 kilometers southeast of the city of Raqqa.
The American media outlet claimed that following increased airstrikes and pressure applied from three directions by Syrian democratic Forces (SDF), ISIS has "essentially moved its so-called capital in Syria".
US military drones have watched hundreds of ISIS “bureaucrats,” or administrators, leaving Raqqa in the past two months for the city of al-Mayadin located further down the Euphrates River from Deir el-Zour, the media reported.
In late March, the US coalition told media outlet Newsweek that up to 3,500 ISIS fighters were estimated to have been present in Raqqa, long described as the terrorist group’s “capital” or stronghold in Syria. The city with the population of some 300,000 people was captured by the terrorists in 2013.
In mid-April, following a US missile strike at the Syrian Army airbase of Shayrat, the coalition reportedly scaled down their operation in the region, having carried out some 120 airstrikes around Raqqa. More than 7,800 strikes were conducted in March, according to the Pentagon.
Washington has been backing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multi-ethnic, but predominantly Kurdish alliance of forces in an offensive known as Operation Euphrates Rage. Launched in November last year, the operation aimed to encircle and retake Raqqa.
