Syria/Iraq update 2/22/2019..US to leave 200 troops in Syria for a ‘period of time’ after withdrawal

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Farsnews Syria in Past 24 Hours

Hundreds of ISIL terrorists and their family members moved out of the Eastern Euphrates region on tens of trucks of the US-led coalition after a secret agreement between the two sides.

Eastern Euphrates

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that 26 covered trucks carrying 180 ISIL militants and their family members with a total of 2,000 left the farms between Baqouz region and the Eastern banks of the Euphrates for an unknown destination on Wednesday.

It also noted that two ISIL emirs, one of them Egyptian, were also among the ISIL terrorists leaving Baqouz region, and said, “There are over 200 ISIL militants with Iraqi, Syrian, Asian and European nationalities who are still in tunnels of Baqouz farms as they are likely to leave the region soon.”

The SOHR said that also 40 fully-covered trucks with Iraqi Erbil’s plate numbers belonging to the US-led coalition and some Iraqi Army military vehicles left Syria for Iraq.

Homs

The US army troops and their allied militants once again blocked the exit of the besieged civilians from a camp in al-Tanf region near Syria’s borders with Iraq, media sources said.

“The terrorists stationed in al-Tanf region, including Maghavir al-Thura on different pretexts prevented the civilians residing in al-Rakban Camp of al-Tanf region near the border with Iraq from moving towards areas under the control of the Syrian Army via two humanitarian corridors opened by Syria and Russia,” the Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted informed sources as saying.

The daily pointed to the fact that most of the camp’s residents have called for leaving the al-Tanf region for their regions and towns, and said, “The terrorists have threatened they will increase pressures on civilians and will allow relocation of civilians to Northern Syria and not the areas under the control of the Syria Army.”

The report blamed the US for incarceration of civilians in al-Rakban Camp, saying that the terrorists cannot make decisions independent from the US.

Meantime, a battlefield source in Homs Province’s Peace Committee reported that 130 militants have laid down their arms in several districts of Homs city and its outskirts in return for amnesty.

The report comes as tens of civilians left areas under the US Army’s control in Al-Tanf region as two human corridors had been opened in the region.

Two human corridors were opened in the towns of Jalighim and Jbal al-Gharab after coordination between Russia and Syria for the exit of Syrian citizens stationed in al-Rakban Camp in al-Tanf region in Eastern Homs and near the border with Iraq.

Aleppo

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) conducted a military operation against Turkish Army and its allied militants in the surrounding areas of Manbij city in Northeastern Aleppo, killing a number of the Ankara-backed militants and that country’s soldiers in Afrin region, Kurdish-language media reports said.

Hawar News reported that clashes intensified between members of Al-Bab Military Council affiliated to the SDF and Ankara-backed Euphrates Shield militants in Qart-Viran, Karhiuk and Kavkoli regions West of Manbij city and East of al-Bab city.

It said that the clashes broke out after the Ankara-backed terrorists’ artillery units pounded the SDF-controlled areas in the region.

Hawar News reiterated that sporadic clashes still continue between the two sides in Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo.

It said that at least three Ankara-backed militants were killed and five others were severely wounded in a battle between the two sides in a region between Basouteh and Karzileh villages in Afrin region.

Meantime, a Turkish soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Balbaleh region in Aleppo province.

Western Syria

The Syrian Army is nearly ready to use the Russian-manufactured S-300 air defense system, a military source in Damascus told Al-Masdar News on Thursday.

Speaking to AMN on the condition of anonymity, the source said that the Syrian military’s air defense units are nearly finished with their training on the S-300 system.

Per the source, the Syrian military should be fully ready to use the S-300 system over the next few weeks, as they have nearly completed all of their training exercises with the Russian armed forces.

He would add the S-300 launchers are ready to begin service, but the holdup is the training courses the air defense units are currently going through in Western Syria.