ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – After a large counterattack, forces loyal to the Baathist regime of Bashar al-Assad are continuing to clash with ISIS militants for control of al-Boukamal on Saturday. "IS has almost completely retaken control of al-Boukamal, pushing pro-regime forces to its southern and eastern edges," reported the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Saturday. The Syrian army had announced “the liberation” of al-Boukamal on Thursday after previous reports of ISIS withdrawing. ISIS began ambushing the area on Thursday night, quickly retaking several districts in the northern region of al-Boukamal from pro-government fighters. "It was Daesh's biggest ambush operation, tricking the attacking forces into thinking they had controlled the city," added SOHR. Al-Boukamal is in eastern Syria on the border near Iraq's al-Qaim. The area of al-Boukamal had been encircled by both the Syrian and Iraqi armies between al-Baajat in Syria and al-Aakashat in Iraq before they took control of the town on Thursday after several weeks of fighting. After ISIS suffered a series of defeats in Deir ez-Zor, including the loss of their de facto capital of Raqqa, al-Boukamal was the last Syrian city the militant group controlled. US Defense Secretary James Mattis has described the Middle Euphrates River Valley as "ISIS's last stand." The US-led global coalition to defeat ISIS is backing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Baghuz, just 10 kilometers from al-Boukamal on the other side of the Euphrates. Approximately 120,000 people have been displaced from al-Boukamal alone in recent weeks said Linda Tom from the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office in Damascus. Also on Saturday, Iraqi forces and allied militia launched an assault against the Euphrates valley town of Rawa in western Anbar, the last ISIS pocket in Iraq. The Iraqi army, Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi, and Sunni tribal forces liberated al-Qaim on the Iraqi side of the border on November 3.
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