SDF forces agree truce with IS in Deir ez-Zour

SDF forces agree truce with IS in Deir ez-Zour
A truce between SDF forces and IS has been reached in Deir ez-Zour, east Syria.
2 min read
18 February, 2019
SDF forces have been fighting IS in east Syria (AFP)
A source from the province of Deir al-Zour reported that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Islamic State group (IS) have reached a truce in the village of Baghouz, a suburb of Deir al-Zour in east Syria.

Media activist Abu Mohammed al-Jazrawi told The New Arab that the IS group agreed to release about 300 prisoners to the SDF in exchange for allowing food supplies into the town.

The agreement reportedly provides for a five day truce in the town.  There is an expectation that IS members will reportedly be permitted to move to an area in the Syrian desert.

The IS group reportedly released ten prisoners as a gesture of good faith, and the implementation of the agreement will begin on Monday morning.  

The SDF moved vehicles with aid supplies to the outskirts of Baghouz to enter the town in the coming hours. 

More than 200 members of the IS group, mostly foreign fighters, surrendered themselves to the international coalition forces earlier this week. 

Meanwhile an Iraqi security source told Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the leader of the IS group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi remains in a small area in Deir al-Zour with five of his inner circle.

The source added that Iraqi forces were monitoring the military operation in the east, and are ready to prevent any escaping IS members from entering Iraq.