The Syrian army with the support of Russian warplanes has fully captured the city of Sukhneh, the last Islamic State (IS) stronghold in the central Syrian province of Homs, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday.

The liberation of Sukhneh opened way for the Syrian army to launch an offensive against the eastern province of Deir al-Zour near Iraq, the ministry said in a statement.

The progress was part of a large-scale military operation to drive out IS terrorists from the Syrian Desert.

The seizure of Deir al-Zour will largely mean the victory over the IS,Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Rossiya 24 TV channel on Sunday.

He said on Saturday that the area freed from IS terrorists by the Syrian army with Russian military support expanded 2.5 times in the past two months.

Russia has been participating in operations against the IS and other terrorist groups in Syria since September 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

source: xinhua