Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks at a session of the Federation Council, May 24 (Source: mil.ru)
On November 10, Russia’s Defense Ministery Sergey Shoigu congratulated Syrian forces on the liberation of al-Bukamal city, which had been the last large ISIS stronghold in Syria.
“Work is in progress on demining Deir ez-Zor [Deir Ezzor] and al-Mayadeen. Today we started demining and clearing Abu Kamal. That’s the last major stronghold where a fairly large group of terrorists was concentrated. Some of them were wiped out, while some others crossed the Euphrates and are moving northwards. I hope they will receive a worthy ‘welcome’ there,” Shoigu said at the military board of Russia and Belarus. “Convey our congratulations to our Syrian counterparts. I congratulate you on the successful completion of the operation that was underway over the past four days. The Russian Aerospace Forces showed all their skills, and, most importantly, accomplished all the missions they were tasked with amid poor weather conditions.”
The Syrian Defense Ministry announced the liberation of al-Bukamal on November 9. However, some firefights were still ongoing in the area.
However, there are still not enough photos and videos from the area to confirm that the city is fully secured.
