As the Syrian army has further advanced toward the city of Deir ez-Zor besieged for years by ISIL terrorists, a source revealed to Sputnik details of the ongoing operation to liberate the area.
“The Syrian army and its allies have taken over an asphalt plant in the western suburbs of Deir ez-Zor, and are now preparing to liberate the barracks of the 137th brigade five kilometers [3km according to Governor of the Syrian province, Ibrahim Samra] west of the city,” the source said.
Earlier in the day, another source told Sputnik that the Syrian army was engaged in an offensive on Deir ez-Zor in two directions, west and south-west. Local media report that the forward units of the Syrian forces are involved in a fight with ISIL militants less than two miles from the city.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the same day that the Syrian government forces had driven ISIL terrorists out of key positions on the Palmyra-Deir ez-Zor highway.
The Syrian army supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces has been advancing toward Deir ez-Zor from three directions as part of the campaign to free the city launched in August.
Deir ez-Zor, located on the shores of the Euphrates River to the northeast of Damascus, and a military airfield near the city have been besieged by ISIL for over three years, with food and ammunition only being delivered by air, while helicopters from the city of Qamishli have been evacuating the wounded and delivering essential supplies to the city's population.
The lifting of the siege of Deir ez-Zor will lead to the complete defeat of the most combat-effective formations of the ISIL terrorist group in Syria, the chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate said earlier.
SPUTNIK/MNA