Daesh withdraws from last remaining Syria strongholds

ANKARA (AA) - The Daesh terrorist group on Thursday withdrew from the Markada district in Syria's Al-Hasakah province and the city of Buqamal in the Deir ez-Zor province, both of which are located in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border.

Anadolu Agency correspondents reported that Daesh had withdrawn -- without clashes -- from its last stronghold in the Hasakah province, most of which remains occupied by the PKK/PYD terrorist group.

The Daesh withdrawal is expected to leave the entire province in the hands of the PKK/PYD terrorist group.

Daesh also appeared to withdraw from the city of Buqamal, leaving the PKK/PYD and Assad regime forces in control of Deir ez-Zor.

Last week, the Syrian regime, backed by Russia and Iran, seized control of Deir ez-Zor.

Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi, a largely Shia component of the Iraqi army, supported the campaign to capture Buqamal with a series of cross-border artillery barrages.

Daesh, however, still reportedly maintains a limited presence in Deir ez-Zor's rural outskirts.

Daesh captured Deir ez-Zor and Buqamal, both of which are near the Iraqi border, in mid-2014.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict and more than 10 million displaced, according to the UN.