The last bulwark of the "Islamic state" in Syria is freed from extremists, Syrian state media reported.

According to eyewitnesses from other sources, several foci of resistance still remain, and the Syrian government army is fighting with the support of Russian aviation and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah,.

"The city is completely liberated from terrorism," the state television reported..

The province of Deir ez Zor was of strategic importance to the IG, since it is located near the border with Iraq.

The city stands on the Euphrates River, halfway between Rakka - the so-called capital of the self-proclaimed "caliphate" IG, and the Iraqi border.

The army of Bashar Assad for a long time led the siege of Deir ez Zor. The active offensive began on September 4, when the government forces broke through the militants' defense, and was carried out with the massive support of Russian military security services that bombed the city.

Syrian democratic forces - the intra-Syrian armed opposition supported by the US - for its part, is conducting an offensive on the territory occupied by the IG, and in some places the positions of the opponents of Bashar Assad and the government army are separated only a few kilometers.

In October, the Islamic state militants were expelled from the east of Syria - the pro-American alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab forces took control of Rakku.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported more than 80 sorties in the Deir-ez-Zor area. In the same place in early September, two Russian servicemen who accompanied an automobile convoy were killed. They came under mortar fire from the side of the IG.

The province of Deir ez Zor and its capital were in the hands of the "Islamic state" for more than three years. However, fierce battles, accompanied by bombing, went in this part of Syria and before the arrival of the Islamists, when the Syrian government army fought with the opposition. During the civil war, about 350,000 local residents were forced to leave their homes.

Now in the hands of militants there were only a few areas of the province of Deir ez Zor.

In recent months, the IG group has also suffered a series of defeats from Iraqi government forces that are advancing along the Euphrates River on the other side of the border.

On Sunday, Iraqi troops launched an offensive on the city of El-Qaim, which is still being held by militants. This Iraqi administrative center is located across the border from the Syrian city of Abu Kamal.

At the moment, Iraqi government forces ousted IG militants from about 95% of the territory they once controlled in Iraq, and released more than 4.4 million residents, said representatives of the US-led coalition fighting the "Islamic state".

Source: BBC.