Deir al-Zor

Syrian troops seized a suburb of the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Sept. 17, tightening the noose around Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a Syrian military source said.

The army pushed into the city this month with the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, breaking an ISIL siege of an enclave there that had lasted three years.

Syrian government forces and U.S.-backed militias converged on Islamic State in separate offensives against the militants in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor on Sunday, reported Reuters. 

Syrian troops backed by Russian warplanes on March 24 advanced into the ancient city of Palmyra, which has been under jihadist control for nearly a year, a monitor and a military source said.

Syrian state television said government forces fought their way into Palmyra on March 24 as the army backed by Russian air cover sought to recapture the historic city from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.

An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suicide bomber detonated a tank at a Syrian air base in the province of Deir al-Zor, one of the last remaining government strongholds in eastern Syria, jihadist social media and a monitoring group said on Dec. 12.