INFOGRAPHIC - PKK/PYD begins anti-Daesh drive in Syria’s Deir Ez-Zor

By Levent Tok

ISTANBUL (AA) - The PKK/PYD terrorist group on Saturday launched fresh operations, with U.S. support, against Daesh in Syria’s eastern Deir Ez-Zor province, located some 450 kilometers northeast of capital Damascus on the shores of the Euphrates River.

The operation forced Daesh to withdraw some 45 kilometers into the province after PKK/PYD militants advanced through Deir Ez-Zor’s northeastern countryside.

According to local sources, Daesh has staged a gradual retreat to the southwest, leaving the province’s rural center relatively quiet.

The vacuum left by Daesh’s withdrawal was quickly filled by advancing PKK/PYD militants, who advanced some 45 kilometers into the province, capturing Deir Ez-Zor’s northern areas of Hajif al-Zarab, Tal al-Jahif, Jabal al-Zairab and Bir al-Domini.

The group’s advance means PYD/PKK terrorists now stand only six kilometers from the center of Deir ez-Zor, which is currently under Syrian regime control.

Daesh overran most of Deir ez-Zor in mid-2014, before which some 230,000 people had lived in the province.

The onslaught left regime forces besieged in the city center, while Daesh remained in control of most of the countryside.

In early July, however, regime forces -- backed by Russia -- advanced into the center of the province from the west, effectively breaking Daesh's blockade.

At that point, regime forces halted their advance, using the Euphrates River as a natural barrier between them and the PKK/PYD.

Meanwhile, neither the U.S. nor Russia have issued any statements as to whether an agreement was struck between the two sides regarding their respective deployments in Deir ez-Zor.