“We have increased our presence and our footprint and prepared for any threat that is presented by the pro-regime forces,” said the spokesman, U.S. Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, referring to Iran-backed forces supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Dillon estimated that a small number of Iran-backed forces had remained inside a so-called “deconfliction” zone meant to ensure the safety of U.S.-led coalition forces since a May 18 U.S. strike on their advancing formation. They are competing to capture land held by Islamic State, which is retreating as it comes under intense attack in Iraq and along Syria’s Euphrates basin. Western-backed Syrian rebels said on Wednesday that Russian jets attacked them as they tried to advance against Iran-backed militias. The coalition’s presence in Tanf, on the Damascus-Baghdad highway, was also meant to stop Iran-backed groups from opening an overland route between Iraq and Syria, the sources say.

Source: Egypt Independent June 01, 2017 19:30 UTC