Syrian army, allied militia gain ground against IS
BEIRUT — Syrian troops and allied militia have pushed back Islamic State militants and U.S-backed opposition fighters, gaining control of a large swath of territory in the country’s strategic southern desert, the government-controlled media and a war monitor said Saturday.
Also Saturday, the U.S.-led coalition leading the campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria’s northeast, acknowledged it has conducted airstrikes near the IS-controlled town of Mayadeen earlier in the week, targeting the group’s “propaganda facilities.” In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, the U.S.-led coalition said it is looking into reports the airstrikes killed over two dozen civilians, but added the claims were “unsubstantiated” and lacked “specificity or evidence.”
With the new advances, the government and allied troops secured an area nearly half the size of neighbouring Lebanon. The strategic juncture in the Syrian desert aids government plans to go after IS in Deir el-Zour, one of the militants’ last major stronghold in Syria. The oil-rich province straddles the border with Iraq and is the group’s last gate to the outside world.
The government and its allies have restored government control over mineral and oil resources, including the phosphate mines in Khneifes, once controlled by IS.