The northwestern countryside of Syria’s Deir Ezzor province has been completely liberated from ISIS, after the Islamists withdrew from the remaining areas under its control, reports suggest.
ISIS fighters pulled out of seven villages in the district, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Wednesday, citing “reliable sources”.
The withdrawal was the result of an “unannounced agreement” between ISIS and Operation Jazeera Storm, the U.S.-led coalition’s campaign against the militants, north of Deir Ezzor city.
Under the deal, SOHR said, a corridor was secured for ISIS fighters to retreat to areas under their control in eastern of Deir Ezzor.
The evacuation came as Daesh, as it is known in Arabic, faced the advance of forces loyal to the regime on one side, and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the other.
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Regime troops retook Deir Ezzor city from Daesh early last month, following a two-year siege.
The Islamists now control less than half of the province, according SOHR, after considerable regime advances to the south of the city on Tuesday.
Both regime and SDF forces have been fighting the group in the eastern province, with clashes between the two anticipated.
A series of significant losses in Syria and Iraq during recent months have seemed to signal the approach of complete collapse for ISIS. The fall of its de facto capital Raqqa to SDF troops was announced on Tuesday, with ongoing operations to clear the city of any remaining fighters.
