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Who and What:

Long-term trends for the city of Deir az-Zour:

To complete the consolidation of its hold on Deir az-Zour governorate’s eastern districts (Bukamal, Muhassan, and Mayadeen in particular), ISIS, now promoting itself as SIC (State of the Islamic Caliphate), will attempt to capture the city itself. Just as in Raqqa, SIC’s most formidable opponent for the near-long term will be the local government-military airbase, located on the downstream outskirts of the city, along the Euphrates. Syrian government facilities and forces also maintain a strong pull, however, in Deir az-Zour’s northern districts, which are buttressed by smaller brigade bases along the city’s northern edge.

Urban sustainability is dependent, as it was under moderate opposition control, upon control of the ‘Politics’ Bridge, connecting the suburbs along the northern bank of the Euphrates with Deir az-Zour’s city center, namely the Huwaiqa and Rashdiyya neighborhoods.