Syrian Army takes over ISIS pocket east of Raqqa

The self-proclaimed Islamic State contiues to lose more territory to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the eastern countryside of Raqqa as government troops march onward towards the strategic city of Deir Ezzor.

Today, the SAA’s elite Tiger Forces have recaptured an ISIS enclave along the western bank of the Euphrates following deadly clashes with jihadist militants for it.

According to a military source, most of the group’s fighters had fled their positions just before the Syrian Army managed to cordon-off the pocket a few days ago. However, a detachment of some twenty suicide troops remained in the pocket to slow the army’s advance.

After finishing off all the suicide bombers left behind by ISIS, army engineering units then began dismantling IEDs and landmines planted in the area.

The recent progress has granted government forces full control of an extra 30 kilometers along the western bank of the Euphrates, with only one major town (Ma’adan) still under ISIS control in Raqqa’s eastern countryside.