Beirut: Syrian rebels have taken control of a strategic town in the country on Thursday, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
The Britain-based watchdog also said that a large area on the Syrian-Iraqi border is now under rebels’ control.
“The area east of the city of Deir Ezzor, on the Iraqi border, is now the largest area in the whole country that is out of army control,” AFP quoted Rami Abdel Rahman, the group’s director, as saying.
“In that area [Deir Ezzor] of Syria, there are deep tribal loyalties, and fighters in western Iraq help the rebels fight the regime,” Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Troops expelled by rebels from Mayadeen were forced to withdraw to a military airport east of the city of Deir Ezzor.
Meanwhile, most oil and gas fields in the large desert province are still under regime control, the group said.
Deir Ezzor neighbours Iraq, and has seen intense fighting since mid-summer.
The Syrian National Council, one of the country’s main opposition groups, declared Deir Ezzor a “disaster area” last month.
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