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BEIRUT: Syrian regime troops battling Daesh crossed to the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor on Monday, securing their hold on the eastern city but threatening a potential standoff with US-backed forces operating nearby.
The pro-regime forces meanwhile announced that they had secured the airport in Deir Ezzor, allowing two military transport aircraft to land. Al-Manar TV, the media arm of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, quoted an unnamed general who said the airport is “90 percent secured.” Hezbollah is fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Syrian state media said the Deir Ezzor military airport began functioning on Monday for the first time in nearly a year. The military base is seen as a valuable asset for the Syrian Army.
Monday’s flights carried aid to Deir Ezzor, Syrian state media said.
On Sunday, the UN said it had halted costly airdrops to the city as a land corridor opened.
The UN has estimated that some 93,000 people were living in “extremely difficult” conditions in regime-held parts of Deir Ezzor during the Daesh siege and were supplied by airdrops to the base.
Syrian regime forces broke a three-year Daesh siege of parts of Deir Ezzor earlier this month and are fighting to drive the militants from the city, their last major urban stronghold in Syria. The city is home to nearly 100,000 residents.
Russia, which has provided crucial air support to Assad’s forces, announced the crossing of the river, saying in a statement that the troops used a pontoon bridge.
“The Syrian Army storm units have pushed the Daesh militants out of several villages on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River and are continuing their offensive toward the east, extending their gains.”
US-backed and Kurdish-led forces have also been advancing on the eastern side of the river, as both sides seek to expand their control of the oil-rich province bordering Iraq. Many oil fields, including Al-Omar, Syria’s largest, are on the eastern bank.
Over the weekend, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said its fighters were hit by Russian airstrikes on the eastern bank of the river, in an industrial area they recently liberated from Daesh. Russia denied it was behind the airstrikes.
Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed the crossing, which, he said, was preceded by intense aerial bombing on the eastern bank.
“Even if the pro-government (forces) keep up their advance in the city, it will mean nothing if they don’t control the eastern bank,” Abdurrahman said.
The US-backed offensive is focused on the Iraq border area, which is still controlled by Daesh. Washington fears that further advances by pro-regime forces in Syria could help Iran expand its influence across the region via a land bridge stretching through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, all the way to Israel.
Iran is a key ally of Assad, and has provided financial and logistical support to his forces throughout the six-year civil war.