Syrian Islamist rebel forces have taken control of the city of Deir al-Zour, consolidating their power after seizing the eastern town from the US-backed Kurdish forces that had control of the region, the BBC reports.
Hassan Abdul-Ghani, a senior commander of the main Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) , said his fighters had ‘liberated’ the city and its military airport.
“Our forces have seized the entire city of Deir al-Zour,” the rebels said in a statement.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) – a war monitor based in the UK – says that Kurdish forces previously controlling the city had withdrawn to other localities.
Kurdish forces had taken the city after former President Bashar al-Assar withdrew his troops earlier in the week.
It comes a day after HTS appointed a new interim prime minister, Mohammed al-Bashir, who previously governed a small pocket of rebel-held territory during Assad’s rule.
