Turkish-backed rebels take control of Syria's Deir ez-Zur

Syrian rebels backed by Turkey, who ousted president Bashar al-Assad, said on Tuesday they had taken the eastern city of Deir ez-Zur, while a war monitor confirmed Kurdish forces had withdrawn.

"Our forces have seized the entire city of Deir ez-Zur" the rebels said in a statement, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said that Kurdish forces had withdrawn to other localities. 

Israeli fighter jets carried out airstrikes on Deir ez-Zur Military Airport eastern of Deir ez-Zur, where planes and radar equipment were destroyed on Tuesday.

The US-backed Kurdish Syrian forces (SDF) and Syria's Turkey-backed rebels reached a ceasefire agreement in the northern city of Manbij through a US mediation "to ensure the safety and security of civilians," SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said early on Wednesday.

"The fighters of the Manbij Military Council, who have been resisting the attacks since November 27, will withdraw from the area as soon as possible," Abdi added. Members of the Council will move east of the Euphrates. 

The SOHR reported on Tuesday that civilians have been stranded in several neighbourhoods in Manbij city.

The number of residents in Manbij city is estimated to be 500,000 people, most of which have recently headed to Ain Al-Arab (Kobani) in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, where they struggle with tragic humanitarian situation, the war monitor said. 

SOHR sources reported that Turkish-backed forces extrajudicially executed tens of injured combatants of “Manbij Military Council Forces,” who were receiving medical treatment in a military hospital near Al-Matahen roundabout in the north of Manbij city.