Thread by @jenanmoussa

1/ Many politicians &others who have never been on ground in Syria are saying ISIS was defeated.

That's premature. I went with SDF to ISIS front near DeirEzzor.

Battle far from over. 1000s of ISIS still there. Check my @akhbar story & thread in English.

2/ Before I go into details about my visit to front with ISIS, let me show you where it is on the map.

From Hasakah in north to the south near Hajin, north of Al Bukamal. Some desert parts spooky &isolated.

Yellow=SDF/Americans, Red=SAA/Russians, black=ISIS. Blue our route:

3/ Few journalists have been in this place. We were at one point 500 meters from houses still controlled by ISIS. Behind ISIS postions, a large ISIS pocket exists which is surrounded by SDF (to east), SAA (to west) and Iraq border (to south). @akhbar

4/ We stayed behind sandbags on roof with SDF fighters. Every now&then I could hear shot or machine gun fire in distance. SDF said: "For some time now we don't attack ISIS here due to focus of SDF in north Syria (Afrin, Manbij etc). When ISIS attacks us here at night, we repel."

5/ SDF main commander told me they estimate 7000 ISIS fighters still present in pocket between Hajin &Al-Bukamal. Another commander said 5000.

Difficult for me to check but seems thousands of ISIS fighters still in area. And 2more ISIS pockets (west &north) in region.

@akhbar

6/ Mind u, the 1000s of ISIS fighters in Bukamal pocket aren't even the largest problem, as ISIS there is surrounded.

Main problem I felt was area btwn Shaddadi &Hajin. Region is in SDF hands but SDF fighters complained that in many villages ISIS has supporters &sleeper cells.

7/ Threat of ISIS sleeper cells in SDF areas btwn Shaddadi &Hajin is so serious that we had to leave region before 15.00 hrs.

Even SDF withdraws its fighters at 18.00 hrs from checkpoints to better protected bases as it's too dangerous to stand at roadblocks at night.

@akhbar

8/ It was also dangerous to stop on way or to leave our vehicle. And yes, we drove all time very fast. Not to be recognized too easily while driving through villages I was wearing headscarf, while Kurds made turban for @HaraldDoornbos, who traveled with me.

9/ SDF fighters in eastern Syria told me they had some bad experiences with ISIS sleeper cells. Some ISIS members shaved beard, said "Rojbaş" (Hello in Kurdish) & invited SDF for tea - then kill SDF or blow themselves up among SDF-fighters. SDF has to be very careful now. @akhbar

10/ SDF fighters told me they are worried about ISIS presence in East Syria. Some even fear possible ISIS takeover if U.S. pulls out or if anti-ISIS forces spread even thinner. "Unfortunately ISIS still everywhere." Some trouble spots: Al-Shaddadi, Markada, al-Suwar, al-Busayrah.

11/ In order to reach the ISIS-frontline in Syria's southeast, we had to travel through desert area.

Took this 360° pic east of Hajin. Very isolated area, what a rough place to fight a war.

Scroll left, right, up and down for full view. kuula.co/post/7lyWW

@akhbar

12/ Its getting late here. I think I will pick up this thread tomorrow again. Until then take care everyone & stay tuned.

13/ During my trip in east Syria, we often spotted U.S. Military convoys. In one day we saw 4 convoys driving. Most consist of 4 or 5 vehicles. U.S. troops have various small bases inside SDF controlled bases, so US is "double protected" against possible ISIS car bombs.
@akhbar

14/ Americans on ground in east Syria are allies of local SDF-forces.

SDF in region is led by Kurds but SDF fighters on ground (checkpoints, frontlines etc) are mixed Kurdish or Arab.

Most Kurds speak Arabic so both sides can communicate easily.

@akhbar

15/ But we all know that in order to rule this area, you need to work with local Arab tribes.

Some are working with SDF. Others are not on board. And that is complicating the situation.

@akhbar

16/ Before I board my plane, there are couple of more things I wanted to add to this thread. Thanks for bearing with me.

17/ On my trip to east Syria, I not only visited front with ISIS enclave near Al-Bukamal, but also Omar oilfield, largest oilfield in Syria.

It's in hands of SDF &also U.S. troops have base inside Omar oilfield. Some parts of installations are destroyed but oil still flowing.

18/ SDF & U.S. controlling Omar oil fields is of course a huge annoyance to nearby Syrian gov troops & Russian forces in nearby town of Al Mayadin. Syria gov wants oil fields back.

Acc to SDF I spoke to, SDF fights here on two fronts against ISIS + Syrian gov troops.

@akhbar

19/ This is also area where, according to some reports, over 100 Russian forces were recently killed by Americans as they attacked SDF forces in order to recapture oil fields.

It was difficult for me to get clear picture &new info on this topic during my trip to the oilfields.

20/ All in all, trip to east Syria was very interesting.

SDF on front with ISIS pockets with constant fear for ISIS sleeper cells.

And except for ISIS factor, lots of tension btwn SDF/U.S. &nearby SAA/Russians.

This oil rich region is a very, very complicated game of chess.

21/ That's all I have about this topic. Hope you found it useful. Thank you for your attention. It became a habit of me to post a photo of myself every time I am in the field. So here you go. @akhbar