After closing the Tabqa–Salamiyeh and Deir Hafer–Aleppo roads in October, the Syrian Transitional Government has now closed the road connecting the Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor cantons. Traffic congestion has formed due to civilian vehicles waiting on the road and local residents.
The Transitional Government forces have not made an official statement or informed the travelers regarding the closure of the highway.
The closure comes amid intensified attacks by the Transitional Government on the village of Ghanem al-Ali and its surroundings in eastern Raqqa over the past week.
On Wednesday, November 19, two drones launched from positions held by groups affiliated with the Damascus government toward the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were neutralized along the Ghanem al-Ali front in eastern Raqqa countryside, which has been under attack for a week by government-affiliated factions and their militias.
According to the SDF, the first drone was identified as a Matrice M30, and the second as an offensive FPV (First Person View) type. The technical teams were able to retrieve and analyze the data stored on the memory card of the M30 drone. The teams found out that the drone was operated by a group of foreign militants affiliated with the ISIS terrorist organization, stationed at positions held by Damascus government-affiliated factions, directly opposite the defensive lines of the Syrian Democratic Forces.