Syrian regime forces capture Al Mayadeen from Daesh

Regime forces backed by Shia militants have killed a large number of Daesh militants and are de-mining the city in eastern Deir Ezzor province, regime media says.

A war monitor says the regime troops, backed by Shia militias, have taken control of the town but are still combing it for militants.. (AFP File)
AFP

A war monitor says the regime troops, backed by Shia militias, have taken control of the town but are still combing it for militants.. (AFP File)

Syrian regime forces and its allies captured the city of Al Mayadeen from Daesh on Saturday, regime media said, in the latest blow to the group in eastern Deir Ezzor province.

The pro-regime Al Ikhbariya TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying the militants' defences collapsed. 

The official said that troops are chasing remnants of the militants out of Al Mayadeen while regime corps of engineers are clearing land mines left in the town.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said regime troops backed by Shia militias took control of the town, but are still combing it for Daesh militants.

String of defeats

Up until recently, Daesh controlled most of the province, with the exception of a part of the capital Deir Ezzor city, where the regime forces had been besieged for the past three years.

But that changed in early September when regime forces coming in from the west broke the siege, with the help of Russian air strikes.

Al Mayadeen's loss is the latest in a string of blows for Daesh, which surrendered its former de facto Syrian capital Raqqa to the US-backed SDF, according to SOHR.

In neighbouring Iraq, Daesh has also lost almost all of its territory, holding now just a stretch of the Euphrates valley abutting the Syrian border.

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