Syrian army chips away at Daesh on several fronts

By AFP - Feb 05,2017 - Last updated at Feb 05,2017

Syrian Mahmoud Al Khatib, a fighter from the Jaish Al Islam (Islam Army), the foremost rebel group in Damascus province who fiercely oppose both the Syrian regime and the Daesh group, pets a dog on the frontline in the town of Bilaliyah, east of the capital Damascus, on Saturday. Fifty-year-old Khatib says he's been fighting against the regime since the beginning of the conflict in Syria. He was wounded four times and spends his free time taking care of stray dogs (AFP photo)

BEIRUT — Syrian troops and allied militia on Sunday chipped away at territory held by Daesh militants on several fronts across the country, state media and a monitoring group said.

Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad have doubled down against Daesh in Syria's fractured north, as well as near Damascus and the ancient city of Palmyra.

On Sunday, regime forces edged closer to the town of Al Bab, the last remaining Daesh bastion in Aleppo province.

"Regime forces advanced and seized Owaisheh, a village east of Al Bab," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

"They are hundreds of metres from the only route that [Daesh] has to access territory further east," observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

They were backed by fighters from Lebanese Shiite movement Hizbollah and by Russian artillery, he said.

Al Bab, 25 kilometres south of the border with Turkey, is seen as a prize by nearly all sides in Syria's complex war.

Government troops are approximately 5 kilometres from the town's southern edges, but Turkey-backed rebels have already reached the edge of the town from the north.

Assad's forces were also locked in fighting on Sunday with Daesh in the central province of Homs.

Abdel Rahman said the troops had captured the Hayyan oilfield west of the celebrated desert city of Palmyra.

State news agency SANA said "Syrian troops expanded their area of control" near Palmyra after clearing two villages of Daesh.

The jihadist group recaptured Palmyra late last year from government forces waging a fierce battle further north to take back Aleppo city.

Syrian troops have refocused on Daesh since capturing Aleppo in the biggest victory for Assad loyalists since the conflict first erupted in 2011.

On Sunday, they also fought back against Daesh around Al Seen Military Airport northeast of Damascus, the observatory said.

Daesh is facing simultaneous offensives against territory it holds in both Syria and Iraq, which it claims makes up an Islamic caliphate.

The group is among several extremist movements that shot to prominence during Syria's complex, nearly-six year war.

The conflict has left more than 310,000 people dead and has forced millions more from their homes.

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