Daesh controls less than 8% of Syrian territory, says Russian military

The Russian military said its warplanes have flown hundreds of sorties against Daesh in eastern Syria.
Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military’s General Staff said on Friday that Russian jets have flown 383 missions in the area of Deir Ezzor alone over the past week, hitting 993 Daesh targets.
He said Friday that the Syrian regime army has been successfully developing its offensive on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.
Rudskoi said Daesh counter-attacks involving over 1,000 militants who moved from Iraq have been repelled. He added that the Syrian troops are working to clear the town of Mayadeen from militants.
Rudskoi said that the zone under Daesh control has shrunk to 14,800 square kilometers (5,714 square miles), or less than 8 percent of Syria’s territory.
Meanwhile, Syrian activists said a suicide truck bombing by Daesh has killed at least 18 people.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed in the attack late Thursday included civilians displaced by fighting in eastern Syria as well as Kurdish forces. The attack took place in Abu Fas, in the northeastern Hassakeh province. An activist-run group in Hassakeh reported a much higher toll, saying the attack included three suicide car bombings.
The civilians were fleeing the fighting in the adjacent Deir Ezzor province, where Syrian troops and US-backed Kurdish-led forces are waging separate offensives against Daesh in one of its last remaining strongholds. There was no immediate claim for the attack.

Source:Arabnews