(ISW) The nice people at the Institute for the Study of War have brought out a couple of map which show the situation inside Syria as of Thursday the 18th, May 2017:
Russia, Iran, and Syria redeployed forces to constrain the
activities of the U.S. in Eastern Syria. Pro-regime forces reportedly deployed
hundreds of fighters along the Damascus - Baghdad Highway in Central Syria at
the urging of Russia following several weeks of advances in the area by
opposition groups backed by the U.S. and Jordan. The U.S. later conducted an
airstrike against a pro-regime convoy advancing against opposition groups at
Al-Tanaf on the Syrian-Iraqi Border on May 18. Pro-regime forces also seized
the Jirah Airbase in Eastern Aleppo Province from ISIS on May 12. These movements
suggest that pro-regime forces intend to insert themselves into the campaigns
against ISIS in Ar-Raqqa City and Deir ez-Zour Province - thereby pre-empting
long-term expansion by the U.S. in Eastern Syria. ISW has previously
recommended that the U.S. refocus the campaign against ISIS towards Deir
ez-Zour Province as a long-term base for operations against both ISIS and the
Russo-Iranian Coalition in Syria.
The U.S. and Turkey likely failed to overcome their
strategic divide during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and
Turkish President Recep Erdogan on May 16. Trump reiterated his support for
Turkey in the “fight against terror groups” including as ISIS and the PKK but
did not address his recent decision to directly arm the Syrian Kurdish YPG.
Erdogan condemned the decision as an “absolutely unacceptable” measure that
presented a “clear and present danger” to Turkey. Erdogan also reiterated his
calls for the U.S. to extradite exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. The White House
likely offered greater cooperation with Erdogan against the PKK in Turkey and
Northern Iraq to mitigate the risk of an imminent rift with Turkey. These
efforts nonetheless remain insufficient to reverse the growing strategic
divergence between the U.S. and Turkey.
