US-backed forces say have regained villages seized by Syrian army

US backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Sunday they had expelled Syrian troops that had earlier taken control of a string of villages in oil rich areas it controls east of the Euphrates river near the border with Iraq.

The SDF forces led by the Kurdish YPG militia said in a statement they had waged a counter-attack against Syrian army troops that it said were backed by Russian forces, adding they were driven "far away" from four villages they had seized earlier in the day.