Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have steadily advancing on the jihadist militants’ desert position for several months with help from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Russian air support.
Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed that a Russian warship in the Mediterranean had fired cruise missiles toward Isis targets in Deir Ezzor province on Tuesday, destroying a communications and command centre, ammunition depots and an armoured vehicle repair shop.
Liberating the city will mean relief for Deir Ezzor's 70,000 residents, who have been reliant on UN air drops of food, medicine and other supplies since January 2015. Syrian media has said that civilians have already begun celebrating Isis defeat, although pictures and video widely shared on social media could not be independently verified.
Ousting Isis from Deir Ezzor will be the latest victory for Assad, who has made a string of gains against the militant group this year.
The jihadists are also under significant pressure in their de facto capital of Raqqa, where a US-backed Arab and Kurdish alliance has already retaken the Old City in a battle which has seen heavy clashes and significant civlian casualties.
Isis lost control of its largest city, Mosul in neighbouring Iraq, in July.
While Isis’ so-called caliphate across Syria and Iraq is crumbling, observers expect the militants to launch a ferocious insurgency campaign in both countries and step up terror attacks elsewhere around the world.
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