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Syrian government forces break siege of Deir ez-Zor airport - SANA

The troops defending the airport met with the advancing forces of the Syrian army, SANA said

© EPA/YOUSSEF RABIE YOUSSEF

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. Syrian government forces have broken the ISIS siege of Deir ez-Zor Airport and the city districts of Hrabesh and Tahtouh, SANA news agency said on Saturday.

The troops defending the airport met with the advancing forces of the Syrian army, SANA said.

In 2014, the Islamic State terrorist group besieged the city of Deir ez-Zor and took control of its eastern districts.

On 5 September 2017, units of Syria’s Republican Guard and special forces broke through the blockade of the city in the western flank and joined forces with defenders of the 137th artillery regiment’s base. As a result, more than 900 tonnes of humanitarian cargoes were delivered to the city that had lived through a three-year long siege.

On September 7, the government forces took a strategic bridge over the Euphrates to the northeast of Deir ez-Zor. They expanded control significantly over the areas adjoining the city. Later on, the troops continued the operations to unblock the military airdrome.

The lifting of the siege of Deir ez-Zor City, the administrative center of the eastern governorate enables the government forces to launch an operation to remove terrorists from the Euphrates Valley along the border with Iraq.

Liberation of the governorate, which is rich in oil and gas deposits, will have significance for the Syrian economy and resumption of trade with Iraq.

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