Syrian Government Forces Fully Retake Deir ez-Zor from ISIS

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Thursday, November 2, that government forces and their allies have completely regained the city of Deir ez-Zor from the Islamic State group, ISIS. Reuters reports that despite the announcement from the London-based observatory, the Syrian government has not officially confirmed this news. However, a military commander of the Syrian government's allied forces told Reuters that despite the advances of government forces in Deir ez-Zor, some ISIS elements still remain in the city. Syrian government forces, along with Hezbollah militants from Lebanon and with Russian air support, began operations to reclaim Deir ez-Zor two months ago. This city, which has a strategic position in eastern Syria, is located west of the Euphrates River. The Islamic State group took control of parts of Deir ez-Zor in 2014 and besieged other parts of the city along with the army and 93,000 civilians for three years. The Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition led by Kurds and supported by the United States, also conducted operations in the eastern part of the Euphrates River in this province in September and made advances in some areas. Deir ez-Zor is strategically important for the Islamic State group as it is near the border with Iraq and has oil resources. According to Reuters, the Islamic State group still controls a small part of Deir ez-Zor province near the Iraqi border. The group also maintains control over one area in Hama province and one area south of Damascus. According to the report, Syrian government forces have also advanced in the border city of Albu Kamal in Deir ez-Zor province. Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense previously reported that six long-range Tu-22M3 bombers from Russia targeted Islamic State bases in Deir ez-Zor province after flying from Iranian and Iraqi airspace. According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense published on Wednesday, November 1, these bombers extensively bombed the positions of the Islamic State group and its weapon depots near the city of Albu Kamal after flying from Russian territory and passing through the airspace of Iran and Iraq.