Syrian army

Submitted by Kamal Alam, military analyst and Fellow for Syrian Affairs at The Institute for Statecraft, and updated exclusively for Zero Hedge

A correspondent with Al-Masdar News based in Damascus has confirmed that the Syrian Amy has crossed the Euphrates which runs through Deir Ezzor on Monday. The river forms a natural demarcation line separating Syrian government forces and their allies from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF):

DAMACUS, SYRIA (4:00 P.M.) – The Syrian Army was capable today of crossing the Euphrates River after fully recapturing Sakr Island located to the north of Deir Ezzor Airbase.

 

A convoy of buses containing hundreds of lightly armed ISIS terrorists and their family members remains stuck in the Syrian desert and pinned down as US and coalition planes continue to pick off militants who stray too far from the group. External ISIS vehicles have also tried to access and aid the group, but as US coalition spokesman Army Col. Ryan S. Dillon stated, coalition aircraft are picking them off as they come close "like moths to the flame."

The Syrian army said Israeli jets breached the war torn country’s airspace in the early hours of Friday morning and attacked a “military target” near Palmyra. The jets were then reportedly targeted by Syrian anti-aircraft missiles. According to a statement from the Syrian Army, a total of four Israeli jets breached Syrian airspace on Friday morning. Syria’s air defenses shot down one of the jets over “occupied ground” and damaged another. The Israeli Army confirmed it had conducted airstrikes on several targets in Syria, but the IDF claim that none of the jets were damaged.

The Kremlin has announced that the Syrian military, backed by the Russian airstrikes, has completed its operation to liberate the ancient city of Palmyra from ISIS. A British-based war monitor said that the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militia advanced inside Palmyra on Thursday as ISIS withdrew completely. The Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed about the good news from Syria from Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. Fortifications on the outskirts of the city are being erected to prevent any counter-offensive by the terrorist group.