04 November,2017 02:02 PM IST | Damascus | Agencies
The Syrian army announced on Friday it liberated the long-contested eastern city of Deir el-Zour from the Islamic State group, a largely symbolic victory in the military's bigger fight to capture the last remaining IS strongholds in the oil-rich
The Syrian army announced on Friday it liberated the long-contested eastern city of Deir el-Zour from the Islamic State group, a largely symbolic victory in the military's bigger fight to capture the last remaining IS strongholds in the oil-rich province along the border with Iraq.
Smoke billows from the Syrian city of Deir el-Zour during an operation by Syrian government forces against IS group jihadists on Thursday. Pic/AFP
In a statement, the military said it was now in full control of the city, after a week-long campaign carried out with allied forces. It said army units were now removing booby traps and mines left behind by the extremist group in the city.
Deir el-Zour, on the west bank of the Euphrates River, had been divided into a government-held and an IS-held part for nearly three years. Syrian government forces and their pro-government allies first broke the militant group's siege of their part of the city in September in a Russian-backed offensive, and have been advancing against IS positions since then. The city is the largest in eastern Syria and the capital of the province with the same name.
