Syrian Army, Allies Breach 3-Year Daesh Siege on Deir Ez-Zor

Local Editor

The Syrian presidency announced that Syrian Army troops and allied forces reached the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor on Tuesday, breaching a nearly 3-year Daesh siege on areas of the contested city near the Iraqi border.

In a statement, the office of Syrian President Bashar Assad praised Syrian army units that stood their ground throughout the siege.

State TV had previously reported that Syrian troops advancing from the west reached the western outskirts of the city and broke the siege after the Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] defenses collapsed.

Breaching the siege on Deir ez-Zor, which has been occupied by Daesh since 2015, marks another triumph for President Bashar Assad, whose forces have been advancing on several fronts against Daesh and other insurgent groups over the past year.

Rami Abdurrahman who heads the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which is based in the UK also said advancing troops and those defending the city have met.

The latest developments mark a strategic and symbolic defeat for Daesh, which last month lost its hold over Iraq's second largest city of Mosul and is under attack by US-backed Syrian forces in its self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa, northwest of Deir ez-Zor.

Syrian troops and allied forces, backed by Russia's air force, have for months been advancing toward Deir ez-Zor, the provincial capital of the oil-rich province of the same name. The breach is expected to end a nightmare siege for tens of thousands of people trapped.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a Russian warship in the Mediterranean fired cruise missiles toward Daesh group targets in Deir ez-Zor province.

A Russian frigate in the Mediterranean Sea fired the missiles early Tuesday on Daesh targets near the city. The defense ministry said it targeted a fortified area around the town of al-Shola.

The ministry said its drone footage showed that the missile strikes there destroyed a communications center, command centers, ammunition depots, a repair shop for armored vehicles.

Tuesday's breakthrough came after Syrian Army forces dismantled mines around a besieged air base known as Brigade 137.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team