Heavy fighting in and around the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor continues to rage into the second week, as ISIS attempts to follow up significant gains within the city itself by trying to take the military airport along the outskirts which they’ve long sought to capture.
ISIS has struggled mightily to take control over the airbase for years, but has always been fended off in the end. The most recent reports, from the Syrian Observatroy for human Rights, are that 30 fighters have been killed in the last day, 12 troops and 18 ISIS fighters.
The ISIS fighters were mostly killed in airstrikes, and seven of the Syrian troops were killed in a suicide attack by the ISIS forces. ISIS is seen trying to cut off the limited supply routes into the airbase which they don’t already control.
The airbase is the last major airbase under government control in eastern Syria, and its loss would greatly enhance ISIS control over that side of the country, forcing Syria to use more distant bases to stage strikes. This importance is a main reason the base has been so often attacked, despite having substantial defenses.
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