WarSclerotic

The Russian Air Force has destroyed a large column of Islamic State operatives and their equipment on their way to the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, killing more than 200 militants, Russian news agencies cited Russia’s Defense Ministry as saying on Monday.

Islamic State is concentrating its forces around Deir ez-Zor after being pushed out of the south of Raqqa province and the west of Homs province by Syrian land forces and the Russian air force, the ministry said.

“The Russian Air Force destroyed another large column of ISIS fighters that was heading to the area of the city of Deir ez-Zor, where international terrorists are trying to regroup and equip their last base in Syria,” Russia’s RT news website quoted the statement as saying.

The ministry said the airstrike had also destroyed the militants’ equipment, including “heavy vehicles with ammunition.”

It is believed that some 20 SUVs armed with large-caliber weapons and mortars were destroyed.

“The defeat of ISIS in the Deir ez-Zor region will be a strategic defeat for the international terrorist group in the Syrian Arab Republic,” the statement said.