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On Friday, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies captured the Allush hill in the cemetery area in the central part of Deir Ezzor city, according to the Hezbollah media wing in Syria. Furthermore, the SAA captured Jalil and Milad positions around the cemetery area.
During its advance the SAA destroyed 6 armed vehicles and a BMP-1 vehicle of ISIS with ATGMs.
Earlier, Syrian warplanes destroyed two tanks of ISIS in al-Buruk hill west of the 137th Brigade Base. Syrian airstrikes also killed a group of 8 ISIS fighters in the cemetery area.
They Syrian Ministry of Defense confirmed in an official statement that the SAA recaptured al-Shula village on the al-Sukhnah-Deir Ezzor highway. According to the Syrian Ministry of Defense statement the SAA started clearing the village and the highway from IEDs and mines previously planted by ISIS.
The al-Sukhnah-Deir Ezzor highway will likely be re-opened for civilians in few days, as only few positions south of the road are still under ISIS control.
Separately, reports appeared that the SAA advanced northeast from al-Shula and reached the Maliha checkpoint located just 10km from the government-held area near the 137th Brigade Base.
The ISIS-linked news agency Amaq claimed that ISIS fighters destroyed a BMP-1 vehicle, a tank and a gun of the SAA around al-Shula village with ATGMs.
Amaq also released a video of ISIS fighters destroying a T-55 tank of the SAA around Humaymah village in the eastern Homs countryside with an ATGM.
