Syrian troops advance on Dayr al-Zawr after retaking city in Homs

Syrian government forces have made "significant progress" in their latest push against Daesh terrorists in the northern city of Raqqah and are advancing eastwards to the mostly militant-held Dayr al-Zawr Province, a monitoring group says.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Sunday that the pro-Damascus troops were now a few kilometers from Dayr al-Zawr.

"There is now just four kilometers between regime forces and the town of Madan, which is the last town controlled by IS (Daesh) in the Raqqah countryside," it added.

Daesh controls most of oil-rich Dayr al-Zawr Province, but the terror outfit is under pressure from Syrian forces advancing from the west.

The Syrian soldiers control a pocket of the provincial capital, Dayr al-Zawr, which has been under siege by Daesh for two years.

Dayr al-Zawr is one of the few remaining areas under the Daesh control as the terrorist group is losing ground in Raqqah, its de facto capital in Syria.

Some 600,000 people are estimated to be living in the Daesh-held parts of the province.

Earlier this week, reports said that the terrorist group had ordered all men between the ages of 20 and 30 in Dayr al-Zawr to refer themselves to Daesh centers for the fight against advancing Syrian forces.

“Anyone who fails to enlist within one week from this announcement will be forcibly deployed to the front lines,” the order read. 

On Saturday, the Syrian forces managed to wrest control over al-Sukhnah, the last Daesh-held town in the Homs Province.

The recapture of the town opened another route for government troops to advance towards Dayr al-Zawr.

The SOHR said at least 64 Daesh militants were killed in clashes with the pro-Damascus forces and airstrikes across Syria’s Badia region on Saturday.

Over the past few months, Syrian army soldiers and allied fighters have made sweeping gains against Takfiri elements, which have in turn increased their acts of violence across the country.