60 km of Islamic State-held territory left to liberate in Deir ez-ZorNovember 9, 2017 - 17:03 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Islamic State (ISIS) still controls over 60 kilometers (km) of territory in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, including several towns along the eastern and western banks of the Euphrates River, the Syrian military reported on Wednesday, November 8, Al-Masdar News reports. Among the occupied areas still under the Islamic State’s control are a group of towns that are located along the Euphrates River Valley; they include Al-‘Asharah, Abu Hammam, Hajeen, Al-Jala’, and Sousah. The aforementioned towns are filled with thousands of Islamic State fighters that are determined to make their final stand against both the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). For the Syrian Army, their elite Tiger Forces are tasked with clearing the large Islamic State pocket in Deir Ezzor, something that could take months to do. The Tiger Forces will make their push from the Al-Mayadeen axis, while their allies from the 4th Division, Hashd Al-Sha’abi, IRGC, Liwaa Fatemiyoun, and Hezbollah advance northward from liberated Albukamal. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |