The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies resumed their advance in the cemetery area and towards the Republican Guard Brigade Military Base in the southern part of the city of Deir Ezzor.
Following intense clashes with ISIS militants, the SAA took control of the electricity company in the southern part of the city. Thus, they are now close to breaking the siege of ISIS on the Deir Ezzor military airport.
From its side, ISIS launched a violent attack on SAA positions in the districts of Rasafa and Hrabesh in Deir Ezzor and bombed civilians in еру Al-Qusour district using armed drones killing a child and injuring several civilians.
Separately, the Syrian and Russian air forces targeted ISIS positions in the districts of Al-Sina’a and Al-Omal, as well as an ISIS gathering in the vicinity of Mas’ab ibn Umair Mosque in the Al-Hamidiya district of Deir Ezzor. Syrian warplanes also destroyed an ISIS position in Al-Husseiniya village.
The Syrian Air Force helicopters continued transporting ammunition and fighters to reinforce the SAA troops deployed at the Deir Ezzor military airport.
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Opposition sources also reported about a redeployment of the large number of ISIS militants to Deir Ezzor. This move is likely a preparation for a large operation against the SAA in the city. This move followed reports that the Syrian military is deplyoing elite Tiger Forces fighters to the area of Palmyra ahead of a long-expected push in the direction of Deir Ezzor.
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Looks like the Daesh are going to make a last – and huge – desperate bid to take Deir-ez-Zor, their claimed new “capital”. Since they’re reenforced with all the jihadis allowed to leave Mosul and another huge number allowed to travel unhindered from Raqqa, the Syrians had better be well prepared.
ISIS moved their capital to Mayadin last year. It’s south of Deir Azzor, where all the northern roads leading to Mayadin have to go thru or around the city. ISIS wasn’t capable to taking Deir Azzor at the height of their power so don’t have the remotest chance today as their caliphate circles the drain. Their repositioning of fighters is to retain control of the roads bypassing the city so their fighters fleeing the north can pass thru. ISIS had announced earlier that they had repositioned fighters from the west to positions south of Mayadin to fend off attackers coming from Iraq and Jordan. Now it appears they’ll be cut off from Mayadin real soon by the advancing US/FSA who now control the only roads going west of the river.
No doubt they will also use the staged videos, the White Helmets were producing, using 27 dead children and their easily recycled ‘White Helmet Child Actors’. Good luck and beware, as no doubt, lots of covert tricks and tracks will lay in wait.
Yeh. The Syrians should beware particularly of a repeat of 17/9/2016.
Finally Russians have a chance to test non-conventional weapons in open-field.
If the syrians and russians succeed in breaking the siege Deir-ez-Zor, they can move southeast along the Euphrates and connect it to Baghdad. That will kill the Saudi Arabia’s dreams of building pipelines in the Sunni Syria/Iraq and ISIS will be of no use.
Daesh is fixing to lose the few roads going south past Deir Azzor to the SAA troops stationed there. They still must have quite a few fighters coming down from the north and west to Mayadin to prompt the redeployment of the Tiger Forces from the Hama Salient to the Palmyra front to regain control of the highway to Deir Azzor thus trapping ISIS units out in the desert. I have a hunch that those 30 cruise missiles that didn’t hit the airbase did hit choice locations on desert roads that rendered them unpassable to force ISIS to use a few where their movements are easily monitored. I suspect that the few they can use have been cratered by bombing in select areas where ISIS is forced to take long winding detours out in the rough desert to slow-up their withdraw, consume fuel and abandon vehicles that break down.
“Time has come Today “. Tiger Forces deployed to Palmyra , is a good beginning . A few Iraqi and Iranian militias near the border might be redeployed to back up SAA . We wonder , just how large is , “a redeployment of a large number of ISIS militants to Deir Ezzor”. A good time for Iran to fly in a few Quds Forces , Gen. Soleimani would understand .