IS ‘caliphate’ crumbles: major Syrian city liberated as Iraqi forces mount attack on last jihadist bastion
The development is the latest significant defeat for IS as the militant group sees its self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’ crumble
Syrian troops on Friday retook the last major city where Islamic State had a presence as Iraqi forces punched into the jihadists’ last urban bastion across the border.
The simultaneous assaults on Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria and Al-Qaim in western Iraq dealt fresh blows to IS in its former heartland, leaving Albu Kamal, on the Syrian side of the border, the last town of note under its full control.
The jihadist group that once laid claim to a self-styled “caliphate” spanning swathes of Syria and Iraq has seen its proto-state crumble in recent months under the pressure of multiple offensives.
In October, it lost its one-time de facto Syrian capital Raqqa after an assault of more than four months waged by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Arab alliance.
On Friday, Syrian state media announced that the army, backed by Russian firepower, had recaptured all of Deir Ezzor city, in the oil-rich east of the country.
“The army announces full control of Deir Ezzor city,” state television said in a breaking news alert, citing sources on the ground.