The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they inflicted “large losses” on ISIS during clashes on Monday when they secured half the town.
Jihadists launched a counter-attack on Tuesday, firing a rocket-propelled grenade into a building that was under SDF control, destroying the structure and injuring some fighters, the force stated.
The SDF, with coalition air support, managed to advance and have now taken control of “most of the town’s neighbourhoods,” it stated.
Conflict monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported casualties on both sides on Tuesday, stating that the SDF were trying to push ahead with hit-and-run tactics but unable to hold onto any new territory.
Just south of Sousa, in the al-Baghuz area, ISIS sent four suicide car bombers at the SDF forces. Three were hit by heavy SDF weapons. The driver of the fourth was killed and the vehicle seized, the SDF stated.
Sousa, with a pre-war population of under 9,000, is located on the east bank of the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor province, about 13 kilometres from the border crossing with Iraq.
The SDF’s advance in the town comes after weeks of clashes. In early October, a Kurdish member of the force described the fight as “neck and neck… between us and the mercenaries.”
Their advance was slowed by the large number of landmines and booby traps.
The fight against ISIS in the jihadists’ last significant holdout in eastern Syria has been a tough battle. The militants are battle-hardened and determined to hold onto their territory.
The coalition has come under fire for reports of civilian casualties in airstrikes. The number of dead in airstrikes last Thursday and Friday has risen to 63 - including both civilians and ISIS members, according to the Observatory. Eighteen of the dead are Iraqi citizens, families of ISIS fighters.
The coalition has insisted it fired on an ISIS command post, but that credible claims of civilian casualties would be investigated.
