Deir ez-Zor clashes

The U.S. has started construction of two new military bases in Syria's oil-rich Deir ez-Zor governorate.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A car bombing in eastern Syria on Friday killed at least 18 people including 11 members of a US-backed force that has fought the Islamic State group, a war monitor said.

The Syrian government declared victory over Islamic State in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Friday, a big blow to the jihadists as their last stronghold in Syria crumbles, Reuters reported. 

Deir al-Zor, on the west bank of the Euphrates River, is the largest and most important city in eastern Syria, and is the center of the country's oil production.

A Russian lieutenant general died in Deir Ez Zor in Syria in a munitions shootout by Islamic state militants, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

"The senior commander of the Military Advocates Group, Lieutenant General Valeriy Asapov, was at the command line of the Syrian troops, where he helped to run the release of the city of Deir Ez Zor," a ministry message said.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov has called on the US-led international coalition and the opposition supported by it not to hamper the actions of the Syrian government forces against terrorists.

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. 

Syria's army broke a years-long Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) siege on the government enclave of Deir Ezzor city on Tuesday as it battles to expel the jihadists from a key stronghold.

Syrian government forces advanced against Islamic State on Tuesday to reach troops surrounded for years by the jihadists in a government-held enclave in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, pro-Damascus media outlets and a monitoring group reported, quoted by Reuters.

Istanbul's Atatürk Airport, Istanbul's Reina, St. Petersburg's metro and Stockholm… These are some of the bloody attacks carried out by terrorists of Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Tajik origin.  

MiG-21 of the Syrian Air Force. Photo: foroaviones.com

BELGRADE - Daesh terrorists have made another attempt to capture the city of Palmyra, Russia's center for Syrian reconciliation said on Sunday.

"Over 4,000 Daesh terrorists have regrouped and again tried to capture Palmyra," the center's statement said.