Syrian troops surround Daesh terrorists in Badiya desert: Monitor

Syrian forces have managed to encircle Daesh terrorists in the semi-arid region of Badiya, a UK-based monitoring group says.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that the Syrian troops, advancing against terrorists north and south of the region, recaptured Jabal Dahek area and dealt a "strategic" blow to the Daesh elements.

Over the past months, Syrian forces have been fighting for Badiya, which stretches from central Syria to the Iraqi and Jordanian borders and has been under Daesh’s control since 2014.

Reports said that fighting rages on near the town of Sukhnah, also satiated in Badiya.

The liberation of Badiya is seen as key for retaking Dayr al-Zawr, the last Syrian province that remains almost completely under Daesh’s grip.

Over the past few months, Daesh has retreated from much of the territory under its control amid sweeping gains made by Syrian army soldiers and allied fighters against the terror outfit.

Separately on Thursday, a pro-Damascus official said that Daesh militants had requested the Syrian army and its ally, the Hezbollah resistance movement, to let them withdraw from the Lebanese-Syrian border region to Dayr al-Zawr Province.

Daesh “asked for negotiations and a withdrawal, and the Syrian side and Hezbollah agreed," the official said.

Hezbollah and the Syrian military launched an offensive against Daesh in Syria’s western Qalamoun region on Lebanon's border on Saturday. The operation coincided with a Lebanese army counter-terrorism campaign on the Lebanese side of the frontier.

Last month, Hezbollah concluded a joint counter-terrorism campaign with the Syrian army at Lebanon’s highlands of Arsal.

SS