Islam Times - ISIS be Defeated in Syria by End of Year: UN Envoy

Islam Times - The ISIS terrorist group will likely be wiped out of Syria by the end of October, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Friday.

“What we are seeing is in my opinion the beginning of the end of this war… what we need to make sure is that this becomes also the beginning of peace. And that is where the challenge starts at this very moment,” he said in a BBC radio interview.

Three places were still far from stabilized, de Mistura said: Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Idlib.

“After Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor, and that is a matter of a few months, there will be a moment of truth. If the international community will be helping both the opposition and the government by pushing the government to accept a real negotiation, then within a year it would be a possibility of having a truly credible election.”

The key Euphrates city of Deir Ez-Zor has been under terrorist siege for two and a half years after being cut off from government-held areas in May 2015 when ISIS run over Palmyra. The surrounded city, alongside a neighboring military base and airfield, have been sustained with food and ammunition transported by planes and helicopters.

“The Syrian government and the Russians are very likely between now and the end of this month or perhaps early October, latest, to actually liberate it,” de Mistura said.

The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, with the government of President Bashar al Assad blaming some Western states, especially the US and their regional allies, including Saudi Arabia, of backing Takfiri terrorists wreaking havoc in the country.