BEIRUT: Syria’s army battled the militant Islamic State group on the edges of Deir Ezzor on Monday, seeking to break the siege of a government enclave and oust the jihadists from a key stronghold.

The jihadist group has already lost more than half of its nearby bastion of Raqqa to attacking US-backed forces, and the loss of Deir Ezzor city and the surrounding oil-rich province would leave it with only a handful of isolated outposts.

Deir Ezzor province borders Iraq, where IS has also been expelled from former strongholds Mosul and Tal Afar. The jihadists hold large parts of Deir Ezzor province, and more than half the provincial capital Deir Ezzor city, the remainder of which is controlled by the government and under IS siege.

Syrian troops backed by ally Russia have been advancing towards Deir Ezzor city on several fronts for weeks.

By Monday afternoon, Syrian state media said troops were swiftly approaching the city.

“The Syrian army has advanced towards Deir Ezzor to break the siege on it and is now just three kilometres from the city,” a breaking news alert on state television said.

A military source told AFP: “There have been multiple collapses of the Daesh line in the west of Deir Ezzor province, allowing the army to move quickly.”

‘Best day of my life’

“The siege on the government troops will be broken within hours,” the source added.

A 31-year-old teacher inside a regime-held part of the city was ecstatic. “It’s the best day of my life to see the siege coming to an end. It was the heaviest burden on civilians,” Uday al-Ali said by phone. “It’s a real day of celebration for the city.”

Provincial governor Mohamed Ibrahim Samra, quoted by state news agency SANA, said besieged residents were already celebrating as the army neared.

“Yesterday Deir Ezzor city saw celebrations and rejoicing among all segments of society ahead of the expected victory with the advance of the Syrian Arab Army to the outskirts of the besieged city,” he said.

The Russian defence ministry also reported that Syrian forces were advancing on the city, backed by Russian air strikes. “The fall of IS in Deir Ezzor will be a strategic defeat for the international terrorist group in Syria,” the ministry said in a statement.

IS seized large parts of Deir Ezzor province, including its many oilfields, in mid-2014 as it rampaged across Syria and Iraq. By early 2015, it had also seized parts of Deir Ezzor city and laid siege to remaining areas under government control.

The siege tightened further earlier this year, when IS advanced and cut the government-held parts of the city in two, with a southern section by the key military airport now divided from a northern sector.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2017