Syrian troops briefly take villages east of Euphrates River

Syrian government forces briefly captured four villages east of the Euphrates River in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour on Sunday after rare clashes with US-backed Kurdish-led fighters, then lost the area in a counter-offensive by the Kurdish-led force.

The area close to the border with Iraq has been the site of recent clashes between the two sides that had been focusing on fighting the Islamic State extremist group. IS had declared its caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq.