Syrian army extends control in north, seizes oil fields

"On Sunday, the government announced the capture of the strategic town of Tabqa, located about 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of the key city of Raqqa, held by the SDF. According to the official SANA news agency, Information Minister Hamza Almustafa said, "The Syrian army controls the strategic city of Tabqa in the Raqqa countryside, including the Euphrates Dam, which is the largest dam in Syria.""

"Earlier, Syrian government troops drove Kurdish forces out of two neighborhoods in Aleppo last week. On Saturday, the they also took control of an area east of the city. On Friday, Mazloum Abdi, the Syrian Kurdish leader and SDF chief, had committed to redeploying his forces from outside Aleppo to the east of the Euphrates River. However, on Saturday, the SDF claimed that Damascus had "violated recent agreements and betrayed our forces," and clashes erupted with troops south of Tabqa."

"Reports also emerged on Sunday that Kurdish-led forces had withdrawn from the Omar oil field, Syria's largest, in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that the SDF "withdrew at dawn on Sunday from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Omar and Tanak oil fields." According to Reuters, apart from the Omar oil field, Syrian troops also seized the Conoco gas field in eastern Syria."

Syrian government forces have pushed the Kurdish-led SDF from multiple areas in northern and northeastern Syria after over a decade of SDF control. The army captured Tabqa, including the Euphrates Dam, roughly 55 km west of Raqqa. Government troops also expelled Kurdish forces from neighborhoods around Aleppo and took areas east of the city. SDF leader Mazloum Abdi had pledged to redeploy forces east of the Euphrates, but the SDF accused Damascus of violating agreements and clashes occurred south of Tabqa. Syrian forces reportedly seized the Omar and Tanak oil fields and the Conoco gas field in Deir Ezzor.

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