Syria: Assad Sets Sights on Kurdish Areas, Risking New Syria Conflict

Oct 31, 2017 | Tom Perry, Ellen Francis, and Laila Bassam, Reuters
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With Islamic State near defeat in Syria, Damascus is setting its sights on territory held by Kurdish-led forces including eastern oil fields, risking a new confrontation that could draw the United States in more deeply and complicate Russian diplomacy. President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian allies appear to have been emboldened by events in Iraq, where Kurdish authorities have suffered a major blow since regional states mobilised against their independence referendum, analysts say.