ISIS captures key district in Deir Ezzor city amid heavy clashes
"Yesterday afternoon, an official ISIS media outlet said that Islamic State fighters had seized the al-Sina’ah district and the remaining government-held building blocks in the neighbouring Industrial Center of Deir Ezzor.
Over the past two years, the al-Sina’ah district has been lost and recaptured twice as clashes have continually waved back and forth.
While the capture is yet to be confirmed by Al-Masdar’s military source in Deir Ezzor, this advance would have very dire implications for the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) as it would put the city’s airfield under increasing pressure from the northern flank.
If Deir Ezzor Airbase is lost, the SAA will likely struggle to feed the 100.000 civilians living in government-held suburbs of the provincial capital.
Nevertheless, Deir Ezzor hosts Syrian Major General Issam Zahreddine who is specialized in defensive warfare and has successfully defended the besieged city for over two years, thus fighting off daily attempts by ISIS to capture this vital bastion in eastern Syria.
Mr. Zahreddine spearheads the 104th Airborne Brigade of the Republican Guard and is also commander-in-chief of the SAA’s 137th Brigade of the 17th Division and the local National Defence Forces (NDF).
Not long ago, ISIS seized the village of Ayyash north of Deir Ezzor; however, government troops since struck back and captured the Thayyem Oil Fields in southern Deir Ezzor.
Now, the battle seems to have moved to the residential districts of the provincial capital while every so often, a new wave of ISIS fighters are unleashed upon Deir Ezzor Airbase."
ISIS captures key district in Deir Ezzor city amid heavy clashes - Map update |
Al-Masdar News