Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Sends Reinforcements to Deir Ezzur Province

Rasa - The Syrian army dispatched a large number of fresh soldiers to Eastern Deir Ezzur to help other government forces in the ongoing fight against the terrorists.

News ID: 432502

Date: 18 September 2017 - 16:53

RNA - The terrorists in Deir Ezzur province sustained heavy losses in tough battle with the Syrian army.

The Syrian army also continued its advances in other key provinces across Syria.

Deir Ezzur

The Syrian Army forwarded a large number of fresh soldiers to the Eastern city of Deir Ezzur on Sunday to join the pro-government forces' anti-terrorism operation in the province.

The Syrian soldiers, deployed in the Southern province of Dara'a, have recently been transferred to Deir Ezzur as part of a new reinforcement package to further support the ongoing pro-government operations against ISIL in the province.

According to military sources, the troops were moved from Dara'a after a standing ceasefire between pro-government forces and militant groups in the region.

Damascus has dispatched several groups of fresh forces to Deir Ezzur from different regions to intensify operations against ISIL in the province.

The Syrian Army troops have completed encircling ISIL terrorists in several neighborhoods in Deir Ezzur city on the Western bank of the Euphrates River, military sources said Sunday.

The military sources said that the victory came after the army soldiers and popular forces pushed ISIL back from al-Jafrah region on the Western bank of the Euphrates River in the city and cut off the terrorists' only path to the ISIL-held regions along the road to the town of al-Mayadeen.

In the meantime, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed the conquest, and said the army forces had also retaken control of a number of villages near the city's airbase overnight.

A Syrian source said the ISIL terrorists could now only escape across the river.

"They have no outlet except crossing the Euphrates towards the Eastern bank and fleeing towards the desert, or (the towns of) Albu Kamal and al-Mayadeen," the source said.

Reports said earlier on Sunday that the army soldiers drove ISIL out of Tal (hill) al-Kariyah in the village of al-Jafrah after seizing control over the village of al-Mari'eiyeh, Huweija al-Mari'eiyeh region and their surrounding villages North of Deir Ezzur airbase.

A number of ISIL terrorists in Deir Ezzur have fled their positions towards Huweija Sakar after the government forces scored more victories in the battlefields in the Eastern city.

Damascus

One of the key media activists of Jeish al-Islam was killed in exchange of fire with the rival terrorists of Faylaq al-Rahman in Eastern Ghouta, Faylaq al-Rahman's spokesman Wael Alwan said Sunday.

Alwan said that Faylaq al-Rahman's terrorists opened fire at a group of Jeish al-Islam terrorist that intended to approach Fayalq's positions near Hamouriyeh in Eastern Ghouta, leaving Khaled al-Omari, one of the media activists of Jeish al-Islam, dead and some others wounded.

Alwan urged Jeish al-Islam to retreat from the region as soon as possible to put an end to the provocations.

Field sources said in mid-August that the terrorist groups continued to retreat from their positions in Eastern Ghouta after sustaining heavy casualties in Syrian Army attacks.

The sources said that the army soldiers continued to push towards areas South of al-Manasher Roundabout, inflicting heavy damage on Faylaq al-Rahman as they attempt to link their positions to areas under the control of their comrades near Ein Terma.

The army men were also making steady progress in Jobar, capturing several buildings after hours of bloody battle with the militants, the sources further added.

Syria-Iraq Border

The Syrian Army General Command announced in statement on Sunday that the Iraqi government forces have launched a fresh round of anti-ISIL operation codenamed Val Fajr 3 to push terrorists away from the borderline with Iraq.

The statement said that the army and popular forces kicked off Val Fajr 3 operation to accomplish the earlier phases, Val Fajr 1 and 2 operations that ended with recapturing a large region East of al-Dhumayr up to the borders with Jordan, al-Basiri triangle region up to the borders with Iraq, third station and the road from the town of al-Sukhnah to Deir Ezzur.

It also said that the Val Fajr 3 operation is aimed at liberating a region North of Shareh al-Wa'ar and Wadi al-Ratimeh and al-Qazlaniyeh region near the border with Iraq to the second station near the Albu Kamal region in Southeastern Deir Ezzur.

A Russian media outlet reported that the army's Tiger Forces were preparing to cross the Euphrates River to join other units of the pro-government forces on the Eastern bank of the river.

The Arabic-language website of the state-run Sputnik news agency reported that the army units had previously deployed on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River and were expecting arrival of more soldiers.

Sputnik said that Tiger Forces that are under the command of Brigadier General Suheil al-Hassan were to shoulder the mission, adding that al-Hassan is one of the most experienced field commanders of the army.

It added that the Tiger Forces were equipped with heavy military transport vehicles, including Grad and Solnetsibuck, to have a faster and safer move towards the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River.

The news agency said that the army's engineering battalion was building military bridges over the Euphrates River for the Tiger Forces.

Idlib

847/940