On June 23, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached the Syrian-Iraqi border east to the town of Dashisha and captured the Syrian side of the Tell Safouk border crossing, according to the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Enab Baladi.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which are considered the main force of the SDF, confirmed this development and revealed that SDF commanders met with officers of the Iraqi military after reaching the crossing. According to the YPG, both sides discussed the “joint offensive” against ISIS in the eastern Syrian governorate of Deir Ezzor.
A day earlier, the SDF captured the villages of Zibah, Bi’r al-Butah and al-Sayibah few kilometers away from the Syrian-Iraqi border. Back then, Kurdish activists confirmed that US-backed forces reached the border with Iraq.
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Currently, the SDF and the US-led coalition are working to clear the ISIS pocket north of Dashisha. Once this mission is complete, US-backed forces may launch a new military operation to eliminate the remaining cells of ISIS in in the southern al-Hasakah countryside and the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside.
