IS trapped as forces move to clear Deir al-Zour

DAMASCUS, Syria — The Islamic State is rapidly losing ground in Syria’s Deir al-Zour province, with the Russianbacked Syrian army and the United States-backed forces separately beating the extremist group.

On Saturday, Syrian government forces backed by the Russians, Iranian-backed fighters and the tribal forces, succeeded in breaking the IS siege of the key air base of Deir al-Zour, where Syrian soldiers and fighters of the Lebanese Hezbollah group have been besieged for three years.

The victory was achieved by Syrian military units advancing from the western part of the city.

Those units have spearheaded the attack on IS in Deir al-Zour earlier this week, when they advanced from the southern countryside of Raqqa province in northern Syria toward Deir al-Zour, where 93,000 civilians have been trapped.

From the south, other military units have been advancing toward Deir al-Zour from the desert region of the remote eastern countryside of Homs.

The second wave of troops gutted IS-held areas in the desert one by one until finally reaching Deir al-Zour from its southern side, on Saturday capturing the key energy field of Teym.

The Teym field produces gas and oil and is one of the most important energy fields in Syria as it supports the electricity production to most cities.

Meanwhile, a military source said that Syrian forces also captured surrounding areas near the oilfield, proceeding toward the graveyard area where the first incursion team is making progress.

Key ground

With both forces advancing against IS in Deir al-Zour, the terror group is starting to lose key ground in the capital city of the oil-rich province.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that the war on the terrorist group is nearing its end.

Breaking the siege of the air- port will largely play into the hands of the Syrian government forces in their push to eliminate the IS presence in the city before proceeding to the countryside, where IS also controls large swathes of areas near the Iraqi border.

When the base was besieged, the soldiers couldn’t fly warplanes as IS would target them. Now, the base is expected to return to operation after the army has cleansed the vicinity of the air base.

Deir al-Zour is the last major stronghold of IS, as the terror group is also losing its de facto capital of Raqqa to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which have captured more than 60 percent of the city.