Syrian Army forces successfully pushed into the city of Deir Ezzor Monday to relieve a defensive garrison from a three-year ISIS siege. Now, they want to ensure they can keep doing that, seeking to carve out a secure corridor into the city.
The city of Deir Ezzor is the capital of Syria’s province of the same name, and while ISIS has long held the overwhelming majority of the province, a military garrison held part of Deir Ezzor city for years, along with a nearby military airbase.
The Deir Ezzor Province is oil-rich and valuable, and has been the latest goal is Syria’s military offensive eastward. Ensuring that the extent garrison and air base holds would give them a foothold to push into ISIS territory.
Holding the corridor is almost certain to be difficult, as ISIS has long sought control over the air base, and will doubtless try to use its presence throughout the province to try to attack weak points on the supply line.
