Army captures town recently taken by militants

BEIRUT — Syrian government forces and their allies regained control Saturday of a predominantly Christian central town that sleeper cells of the Islamic State captured late last month.

The government-run Syrian Central Military Media said “the Syrian army and its allies have restored security and stability to Qaryatayn” after clearing the town of out Islamic State fighters.

The capture of Qaryatayn came after nearly three weeks of fighting that saw Islamic State capture areas it had earlier lost in an offensive by Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militiamen under the cover of Russian air strikes.

Earlier this week, Islamic State lost control of the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of its self-declared caliphate, after a four-month offensive by the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Last week, the militant group lost its stronghold of Mayadeen in eastern Syria.

Islamic State still holds parts of Syria’s eastern Deir el-Zour province and Iraq’s Anbar province, as well as small, scattered pockets elsewhere. The loss of Qaryatayn is another huge blow.

Earlier this month, the Russian military accused the U.S. of helping Islamic State launch a series of attacks against Syrian troops. Moscow said that Islamic State launched a series of attacks in late September week from the area around Tanf near Syria’s border with Jordan, where U.S. military advisers are based.

The Russians said the Islamic State attacks near Qaryatayn in the Homs province, and a key highway linking Palmyra and Deir el-Zour, wouldn’t have been possible without U.S. intelligence.

The capture of Qaryatayn came as Syria and its strong backer Iran signed a joint memorandum of understanding for developing cooperation and coordination between the two countries’ armies.

It said the memo was signed between the two countries’ chiefs of staffs, adding that it provides for exchanging military expertise and intelligence and technology information in a way that can boost the two countries’ capability for fight terrorism, according to state news agency Sana.

Iran has been one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s strongest supporters since the country’s crisis began in 2011 and has sent thousands of Iranian-backed militiamen to boost his troops against opponents.