TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The areas liberated from Daesh terrorists measure roughly 3,000 square kilometers (1158 square miles) and straddle the provinces of Homs, Dayr al-Zawr, and Homs, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday.
The recaptured territory comprises the strategic al-Beshri mountain range, a strategic stronghold formerly held by Daesh terrorists.
Having established its firepower over the mountains, the Syrian army can now step up its attacks against the Takfiri terrorists in many towns and villages in Dayr al-Zawr’s western countryside.
Notably facilitating the gains was the Syrian army’s recapture in June of the oil fields located in Raqqah’s southern countryside, which brought government troops to the vicinity of the mountainous area.
Daesh is on its last legs both in Iraq and Syria in the face of the two countries’ successful military advances.
Russia has said the remaining Daesh members are moving from Raqqah and the Iraqi city Mosul to Syria’s Dayr al-Zawr Province.
On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said the terrorists' flight showed Daesh recognized “the fact that the staging area around Dayr al-Zawr is the last stronghold of the international terrorists on Syrian soil."
US continues airlifting Daesh elements: Observatory
Separately, the Observatory said the US, which has purportedly been fighting Daesh in Syria since 2014, had conducted 10 heliborne operations so far, transferring Daesh elements, Presstv reported.
The most recent of the operations, it said, saw three helicopters carrying out an airlift in al-Sawh District in Dayr al-Zawr’s western suburbs on Wednesday.
Citing informed sources, the monitor said the US has been moving mercenaries as the Syrian army troops and their allies are closing in on Dayr al-Zawr.