Syrian Army forces have successfully wrestled control of Kabajib village, located southwest of Deir ez-Zor, from the clutches of Daesh terrorists.

The liberated village is considered to be one of the most important strategic settlements in the area as it essentially serves as the gateway to the main access road leading to the city of Deir ez-Zor.

A Syrian military source told Sputnik Arabic that "infantry units have been working in that direction for a while now in order to open access to the city from the south."

"They’re being supported by artillery and airstrikes. After our recent success in breaking the blockade from the other side, it is time to capitalize on this success and move to lift the siege on the city from multiple directions," he explained.

The source also added that the Syrian army was able to secure the most important strategic locations within the village.

"We’ve managed to secure the village in no small part due to capturing the elevated positions surrounding Kabajib. The terrorists have fled, and our sappers have already swept the village for the booby-traps they left behind," the source said.

The Deir ez-Zor offensive, launched by the Syrian military aided by the Russian Aerospace Forces’ aircraft, resulted in probably the biggest defeat for Daesh in the past three years. In one bold and decisive move, the Syrian army managed to smash through the terrorist forces that were encircling the city and reach the heroic Deir ez-Zor garrison that, against all odds, managed to hold the city against the Daesh onslaught for 3 years.</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Konashenkov said that neither the Syrian authorities nor the Russian center for reconciliation of warring parties have received a "single offer" of humanitarian aid from European countries or international organizations since Deir ez-Zor was liberated.

"Such passivity and slowness of the European politicians and international humanitarian organizations that publicly promote compassion and mercy to the victims of wars, satisfies only Daesh [Islamic State terror group, banned in Russia] militants," Konashenkov said.

The spokesman pointed out that Europe is only worried about the humanitarian situation in the Syrian regions controlled by the terrorists. He said that the Western media become "becalmed," and European activists "amnesic," immediately after the settlements are liberated from the militants.

Konashenkov added that as of today, thousands of square miles and thousands of settlements were liberated from the terrorists of Daesh and Nusra Front (a terrorist organization banned in Russia).

The three-year-long blockade of Deir ez-Zor was lifted on Tuesday by the Syrian army. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, efforts of the Syrian government forces were backed by Russian airstrikes and cruise missile strikes.</s>DEIR EZ-ZOR (Syria) (Sputnik) — The troops met at the state highway near the main southern gate of the city.

An operation to clear the area around the air base located east of Deir Ez-Zor from Daesh terrorists was kicked off earlier in the day.

Elite forces of the Syrian army launched an offensive from the north of the airbase, destroying Daesh's fortifications and equipment. At the same time, other units and allied forces have moved to the southern border of the city.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Armed Forces had another major breakthrough in the vicinity of Deir Ez-Zor. They lifted the blockade in the west of the city paving the way for further advancement to the airbase.

Syria has been in the grip of a civil war for over six years. Government forces are fighting against Syrian opposition groups, who strive to overthrow President Bashar Assad, as well as numerous extremist and terrorist groups, such as Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al Sham, which are both outlawed in Russia.</s>With ISIS' three-year blockade of Deir ez-Zor effectively broken by government forces, the offensive against the terrorists continues. The Syrian army, supported by Russian forces from the air, has succeeded in breaking the siege of an important air base, thereby retaking it from the terrorist group.Military officials said that the recapture of the base, made possible by the support of the Russian Air Force, marks one of the most important victories over IS in the past three years.Earlier on Saturday, Syrian state TV reported that the Teym oilfield was recaptured from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists. This eastern part of Syria is an oil-rich area.The breaking of the blockade happened earlier this week, after a series of successful operations carried out by the Syrian Army with the support of the Russian Air Force."With the help of Russian air power, the Syrian Air Force struck these places ahead of the arrival of Syrian government troops. This weakened ISIL's ability to attack and to call in reinforcements from Raqqa and Palmyra," the Syrian Army commander said.Meanwhile, humanitarian convoys started to arrive in Deir ez-Zor for the first time since the siege was broken. For the past three years, locals have depended on air drops from a military air field controlled by one of the Syrian Army's brigades."People in Deir ez-Zor were on the brink of starvation. We were desperate for food and water to reach the city, that was all we wanted. And thank God, help has now arrived," a local man told RT."We cannot describe how relieved we are. People were dying," another resident among those queuing for food, water, and other vital supplies said.According to the Russian military, efforts are also being made to facilitate the return of refugees to their homes, as infrastructure is being restored in the areas freed from the terrorists. Moscow is actively participating to help the Syrians speed up the work to restore hospitals, schools, bakeries, as well as water and energy supplies.In June, IS controlled around a quarter of the country. But in the past three months, the terrorist group has lost around half of those territories. At the moment, it still partly holds the Deir ez-Zor province, as well as territories near Hama and Homs in western Syria.</s>As Syrian Arab Army forces continue to liberate more districts of Deir ez-Zor city, Russian airstrikes have killed over 40 leading ISIS commanders.

Most of the terrorist leaders were eliminated when Russian fighter jets flying sorties over Deir ez-Zor struck an underground command centre which was used by ISIS on the outskirts of the city.

The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed that the strikes killed the leader of ISIS in Deir ez-Zor, the self-proclaimed ’emir’ of the city, Abu-Muhammad al-Shimali. The terrorist kingpin was a Saudi citizen who prior to 2015 was a member of the notorious al-Qaeda in Iraq, before switching allegiance to ISIS.

al-Shimali was wanted for terrorist related crimes by several states, including the US. In addition to being responsible for crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq, he was widely believed to be the mastermind behind several European based terrorist attacks, including the deadly November 2015 ISIS attacks on Paris.

The statement from the Russian Defence Ministry continued,

“After confirming the information received and conducting additional reconnaissance, two Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Forces were scrambled from the Hmeymim air base, which made a pinpoint strike with bunker busting bombs. The air strike destroyed an underground terrorist command post, a communications centre and about 40 militants of Daesh. According to confirmed information, four influential field commanders were among the destroyed militants, including ‘the sharif of Deir ez-Zor’ Abu Muhammad al-Shimali who was responsible for finance as well as redeployment of new recruits to Daesh training camps”.

Additionally, the strikes have kill the Tajik Gulmurod Khalimov who acted as the self-proclaimed “war minister” of ISIS. Previously Khalimov had been trained by US special forces.

“Before Khalimov’s name was added to the official US list of designated terrorists, he had received extensive training at US military training bases. In 2003, he went to Baton Rouge in Louisiana, to undergo special training with the US Special Forces. He returned to Baton Rouge for another special training course in 2008.Then, from 2003 to 2008, he had special training in America at a Blackwater military base. In April 2015 he vanished from Tajikistan but later resurfaced in a YouTube video saying that he had joined Daesh”.

The entire city of Deir ez-Zor is expected to be shortly liberated from remaining ISIS terrorists.</s>The Syrian army and allied forces have broken ISIL's siege on Deir Az Zor military airport, state media said on Saturday, hours after US-backed fighters announced a separate push against the armed group in the oil-rich eastern province.

State news agency SANA said the breach came "after the forces advancing from the cemetery southwest of the city linked up with the forces holding the air base".

The latest advance of the Russia-backed forces came days after they ended another siege on residential districts of the city as they seek to oust ISIL from its last major stronghold in Syria.

READ MORE: Syria's civil war explained from the beginning

Earlier on Saturday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters, said they had also launched an anti-ISIL offensive from the north of Deir Az Zor city, aiming to clear the group from territory east of the Euphrates River.

The operation brought them into a race with the government forces marching in the same direction.

Ahmad Abu Khawlah, head of SDF's Deir Az Zor Military Council, said his forces had begun fighting to push ISIL out of remaining territory in Hasakeh province and further south in Deir Az Zor in eastern Syria.

The announcement came as Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air power and Hezbollah fighters, closed in from the south of Deir Az Zor city in a separate military campaign against ISIL.

The dueling battles for Deir Az Zor highlight the importance of the key eastern province, which has become the latest epicentre of the international war against ISIL, raising concerns of an eventual clash between the two sides.

Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Beirut, the capital of neighbouring Syria, described the double offensive as "a race against the clock to see which of these two competing forces can have dominance in this oil-rich area".

He added: "Whoever is going to get more of this province is going to control more of the oil, and this really sets up what has been a regional rivalry to see who can take over more territory in Syria since the beginning of this war."

The Syrian conflict, which started as a popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, has drawn the military involvement of several world powers. Peace talks have repeatedly failed to bring an end to the war.

The SDF's new push comes as its fighters are still involved in a major offensive to capture Raqqa from ISIL, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS.

Three months into the battle, they have taken around 60 percent of the city, and much more difficult urban fighting still lies ahead.

Earlier this week, Syrian troops and their allies reached Deir Az Zor, breaking a nearly three-year-old ISIL siege on government-held parts of the city in a major breakthrough in their offensive against the group.

In a victory statement, the Syrian military said Deir Az Zor will be used as a launching pad to recapture the remaining ISIL-held areas along the border with Iraq.

READ MORE: Russia says several top ISIL leaders killed in Syria attack

The troops' arrival to Deir Az Zor city brings Syrian forces and their allies a step closer to controlling the oil-rich eastern province and its capital bordering Iraq. The region has some of Syria's largest oil fields, whose revenue is vital to the state's dried coffers.

Syria's military command announced on Saturday they had ousted ISIL fighters from the province's Taym oilfield, southwest of Deir Az Zor city, on the other side of the Euphrates.

They also seized part of a main highway running from Deir Az Zor downstream to the city of al-Mayadeen, to which many ISIL fighters have retreated, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor. said.

That advance would help block potential ISIL reinforcements from al-Mayadeen, it added.

SDF officials say the timing of the new push is not related to government forces reaching Deir Az Zor earlier this week, and was planned months in advance.

"Deir Az Zor is a main connection point and a very important geographic area," said Syrian Kurdish official Nawaf Khalil, who is in Germany but frequently visits northern Syria. He said the battle for Raqqa requires fewer fighters now than it did in its earlier stages.

READ MORE: 'Anyone can rule Syria, but not this regime'

The US-led coalition fighting ISIL said in an email to The Associated Press that the SDF "will decide when the conditions are right for an offensive".

Asked about concerns of a possible clash between the SDF and Syrian troops, the coalition said: "We urge all forces to concentrate their efforts on our common enemy (IS)."

So far, the rival campaigns have mostly stayed out of each other's way, and Washington has welcomed Syrian troops' fight against ISIL.

Both the US and Russia have an interest in avoiding a clash between the SDF and Syrian forces and may devise a strategy that will allow both sides to share control of the vast province.

US officials have suggested they are not seeking a confrontation with Assad's forces.

Al Jazeera's Jamjoom noted that concerns over an eventual clash between the rival anti-ISIL campaigns "showcased once again just how complicated the terrain is within Syria.

"You have wars being fought within wars - that has been happening for years now - but the prospect of some type of clashes going on between these two competing forces and their regional backers, that really is an interesting question," he said.

"It will be interesting to see how it is dealt with, if there is any type of back-channel communication going on between the Americans and the Russians in order to avoid [an altercation]."</s>The army and republican guard troops are breaking into the airbase area from the direction of the city's graveyard.

The offensive is being supported by aviation and artillery.

The operation to break the siege of Deir ez-Zor, which lies 140 km south east of Raqqa, began after four months of planning and preparation in the wake of the completion of the operation to liberate east Aleppo in January. This operation ended serious rebel activity in western Syria, allowing pro-government forces to turn their attention to the east across the country's desert region into Daesh heartlands.

On September 7, a source told Sputnik the US Air Force had evacuated Daesh field commanders from Deir ez-Zor. The US-led coalition denied the claims.

Russia has sent humanitarian aid to the city, but there has been none from the West.</s>DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – The Syrian city of Deir Ez-Zor will be liberated from Daesh terror group militants in the coming days, Gen. Mohamed Khadur, the commander of the operation in the region, told Sputnik on Saturday.

"In the coming days, we will raise the Syrian flag in the skies of Deir Ez-Zor," Khadur said.

According to the commander, the liberation of Deir Ez-Zor depends in particular on regaining control of the road that links Deir Ez-Zor and the city of Palmyra.

Earlier in the day, local media reported that the Syrian Armed Forces had liberated the Taim oil field near Deir Ez-Zor and continued moving toward the city. The armed forces also regained full control over several settlements in the east of Homs province.

On Tuesday, the Syrian army lifted the three-year-old blockade of Deir ez-Zor. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the efforts of the Syrian government forces were backed by Russian airstrikes and cruise missile strikes.

Syria has been in the grip of a civil war for over six years. Government forces are fighting against Syrian opposition groups, who strive to overthrow President Bashar Assad, as well as numerous extremist and terrorist groups, such as the Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al Sham, also outlawed in Russia.</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Morozov called the airstrike “a tremendous success” by the Russian intelligence agencies and the Russian Aerospace Forces as well as Syrian troops.

“We have practically decapitated Daesh,” Morozov said, commenting on the airstrike that has resulted in the elimination of four influential field commanders, including Daesh ‘war minister’ Gulmurod Khalimov, formerly a commander of the Tajik special police units.

Khalimov was a former Tajik special operations colonel, police commander, and military sniper. He was the commander of a police special operations unit in the Ministry of Interior of Tajikistan, or OMON, used against militants in the Central Asian nation.

According to Morozov, Daesh has lost leadership in finance and tactics.

“Daesh units will practically fall apart now, the density of jihadists on Syria’s territory will be low, which will allow to ‘cut’ Deir ez-Zor province into squares, where effective operations are possible from air and on the ground,” Morozov said.

The Syrian army, with Russian air support, has managed to finally break the three-year Daesh siege of the city of Deir ez-Zor. Until that point, food and ammunition had only been delivered to the city by air. Helicopters from the city of Qamishli had evacuated the wounded and delivering essential supplies to the city’s population.

The operation to break the siege of Deir ez-Zor, which lies 140 km south east of Raqqa, began after four months of planning and preparation in the wake of the completion of the operation to liberate east Aleppo in January. This operation ended serious rebel activity in western Syria, allowing pro-government forces to turn their attention to the east across the country’s desert region into Daesh heartlands.</s>As Syrian Arab Army forces continue to liberate more districts of Deir ez-Zor city, Russian airstrikes have killed over 40 leading ISIS commanders.

Most of the terrorist leaders were eliminated when Russian fighter jets flying sorties over Deir ez-Zor struck an underground command centre which was used by ISIS on the outskirts of the city.

The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed that the strikes killed the leader of ISIS in Deir ez-Zor, the self-proclaimed ’emir’ of the city, Abu-Muhammad al-Shimali. The terrorist kingpin was a Saudi citizen who prior to 2015 was a member of the notorious al-Qaeda in Iraq, before switching allegiance to ISIS.

al-Shimali was wanted for terrorist related crimes by several states, including the US. In addition to being responsible for crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq, he was widely believed to be the mastermind behind several European based terrorist attacks, including the deadly November 2015 ISIS attacks on Paris.

The statement from the Russian Defence Ministry continued,

“After confirming the information received and conducting additional reconnaissance, two Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Forces were scrambled from the Hmeymim air base, which made a pinpoint strike with bunker busting bombs. The air strike destroyed an underground terrorist command post, a communications centre and about 40 militants of Daesh. According to confirmed information, four influential field commanders were among the destroyed militants, including ‘the sharif of Deir ez-Zor’ Abu Muhammad al-Shimali who was responsible for finance as well as redeployment of new recruits to Daesh training camps”.

Additionally, the strikes have kill the Tajik Gulmurod Khalimov who acted as the self-proclaimed “war minister” of ISIS. Previously Khalimov had been trained by US special forces.

“Before Khalimov’s name was added to the official US list of designated terrorists, he had received extensive training at US military training bases. In 2003, he went to Baton Rouge in Louisiana, to undergo special training with the US Special Forces. He returned to Baton Rouge for another special training course in 2008.Then, from 2003 to 2008, he had special training in America at a Blackwater military base. In April 2015 he vanished from Tajikistan but later resurfaced in a YouTube video saying that he had joined Daesh”.

The entire city of Deir ez-Zor is expected to be shortly liberated from remaining ISIS terrorists.
The Syrian Army breaks the nine month long siege of the Deir ez-Zor Airport by ISIL militants.