Syria army breaks 3 years-long ISIL siege

Syria’s army broke a years-long Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) siege on the government enclave of Deir Ezzor city on Tuesday as it battles to expel the jihadists from a key stronghold.
The jihadist group has already lost more than half of its nearby bastion of Raqqa to U.S.-backed forces, and the loss of Deir al-Zor city and the surrounding oil-rich province of the same name would leave it with only a handful of isolated outposts.
Syria’s army and allied fighters, backed by Russian air support, have been advancing toward Deir al-Zor on several fronts in recent weeks, and on Sept. 5 arrived inside the Brigade 137 base on its western edge.
“The Syrian Arab Army this afternoon broke the siege on Deir al-Zor city after its advancing forces arrived from the western province to Brigade 137,” state news agency SANA said.
“This great achievement is a strategic shift in the war on terror and confirms the ability of the Syrian Arab Army and its allies,” the army command said.