Alwaght- Syrian forces have reached the gates of the Euphrates city of Deir ez-Zor after a rapid advance on Sunday, in a bid to end 3-years besiege of ISIS terrorist group.
Deir ez-Zor provincial governor, Mohammed Ibrahim Samra, told Reuters in a phone interview that “The heroes of the army will arrive at Deir ez-Zor in 24-48 hours at the most,” adding that the Syrian Army was only 18-20 kilometers away from the city.
Earlier, an elite unit of the Syrian Army, called the Tiger Forces, came within 18 kilometers (11 miles) of the besieged city after destroying ISIS terrorist positions on the Bishri mountain chain, Al-Masdar News reported.
Sunday’s advance brought the army and its allies to about 10 km from the city, said the military media unit run by the army’s ally, Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
A war monitor, the so-called Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the army had advanced even farther, reaching the border of the besieged garrison’s army camp on the western edge of Deir ez-Zor.
Despite massive redeployment of fighters and military hardware by the Islamic State terrorists from other parts of Iraq and Syria to Deir ez-Zor, the Syrian Army, with the help of its allies, has been advancing toward the city on several fronts.
It is a sign of the rapidly changing fortunes in Syria’s war, Syrian government backed by Iran, Russia, Hezbollah and popular forces, has gain eye-catching gains against foreign-backed militant and terrorist groups.
The United Nations says there are about 93,000 people in the besieged city of Deir ez-Zor, where For years has been supplied only by air.
Syrian state television reported that ISIS was in a state of collapse in the face of the army’s progress. A Syrian military source said on Saturday the army had also advanced eastwards from Sukhna, on the main road between Damascus and Deir ez-Zor, along a parallel route of attack.
Pro-government forces are also fighting to eradicate a large ISIS enclave they left to their rear in central Syria as they advanced towards Deir ez-Zor.
The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Steffan de Mistura, has recently expressed hope that all major ISIS positions in Syria to fall by the end of October.
“What we are seeing is in my opinion the beginning of the end of this war… what we need to make sure is that this becomes also the beginning of peace,” de Mistura said on Friday. “And that is where the challenge starts at this very moment.”
