IS ousts regime fighters from jihadist bastion in Syria, monitor says

Islamic State group fighters succeeded in expelling Syrian regime forces from the eastern town of Mayadeen, days after they entered the key remaining jihadist stronghold, a monitor says.

Backed by Russian air power, regime forces had managed to fight their way into western Mayadeen on Friday.

“Counter-offensives by IS managed to force the regime fighters away from the western outskirts of Mayadeen,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman says the Syrian forces are now some six kilometers (nearly four miles) from the town, which was being targeted by “intensive air strikes carried out by both regime and Russian aircraft.”

IS has controlled Mayadeen in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor since 2014.