After successfully relieving the besieged garrison of Deir ez-Zor, the forces of "based" Syrian President Basher al-Assad have launched a successful attack across the Euphrates River, the largest river in Syria, and captured a town on the other side for the first time since the Syrian Civil War began.
The crossing was made in the early morning of Tuesday (Sept. 19th) by the ISIS Hunters, an elite vanguard unit within the 5th Assault Corps. The crossing has been confirmed by Islamic State. The town of Marat was captured and prisoners were taken.
The Euphrates has long been regarded as an unofficial demarcation line between US-backed and Russian-backed forces fighting against ISIS, although the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) crossed the river in order to attack Tabqa Dam and surround the former ISIS capital of Raqqah.
This crossing by the Syrian Arab Army of President Assad, however, suggests that it is hoping to make extensive gains in the far East of the country and ultimately link up with some small enclaves still under government control in the SDF-controlled North East of the country.
