Syrian forces advance on Daesh-controlled Dayr al-Zawr

Syrian government forces have pushed deeper into the country’s troubled city of Mayadin as they are joined by allied fighters from popular defense groups in major operations to drive Daesh militants from the strategic eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported on Friday that army units had carried out intensive operations against Daesh hideouts in Mayadin, located about 44 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital city of Dayr al-Zawr, advancing into the western neighborhoods of the city, namely al-Baloum, the Industrial Area and al-Madajin.

The report added that Syrian army troops had also managed to establish full control over al-Tibeh village, which lies in the vicity of Mayadin.

Furthermore, scores of Daesh terrorists were killed and injured as Syrian army units engaged in fierce clashes with the Takfiris in Hatla village as well as al-Orfi and al-Sinaa areas on the outskirts of Dayr al-Zawr.

Syrian Air Force fighter jets and artillery units also struck Daesh positions in the towns of Diban, Muhasan, al-Jeneinah, Hawijah Sakr, al-Hussainiyah, al-Boleel, Boqruss Tahtani and Boqruss Foghani as well as al-Hamidiyah and al-Hawiqah districts, killing a number of extremists and destroying their vehicles.

Later on Friday, Syrian forces could wrest complete control over the highway linking Mayadin to the city of Bukamal near the border with Iraq.

Daesh overran large parts of Dayr al-Zawr province, including its many oil fields, in mid-2014 as it seized swathes of land in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

By early 2015, the Takfiri terrorists were in control of some parts of the city of Dayr al-Zawr and besieged the remaining parts, which were under government control. It is estimated that 100,000 people remain in the government-held parts of the city.