BEIRUT (Sputnik) — Syrian troops loyal to President Bashar Assar pushed the Islamic State (ISIL) insurgents on Sunday back from a military airfield in the Deir ez-Zor province in northeastern Syria, an army source said.
"The army and brigades of local tribe militias launched a morning counter-attack near the airport. Terrorists were forced to withdraw several kilometers away from residential areas, among other places," the source told RIA Novosti.
He denied earlier reports by Arab-language media claiming IS had captured the barracks belonging to the Syrian army’s rocket battalion and a part of the air base.
Last Thursday, ISIL militants advanced on the government-controlled air base in the Deir ez-Zor province, blowing up two explosives-laden personnel carriers on the eastern side of the airport. Both warring parties suffered losses in the clashes that ensued.
