Syrian army takes full control of Deir al-Zor from Islamic State: observatory

The Syrian army and its allies have taken full control of Deir al-Zor city from Islamic State, the largest and most important city in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday. The Syrian army launched its attack against Islamic State there in September, backed by Russian air strikes and fighting alongside Iran-backed militias and the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah. The Islamist group had held most of the city since 2014, except for one large pocket where Syrian army troops and 93,000 civilians had been holed up for three years.