Lebanon’s prime minister has visited troops near his country’s border with Syria, and said that victory against the Islamic State group is near. A Syrian military official told SANA that evacuation of IS militants toward Deir el-Zour negotiated by Hezbollah has been approved. IS controls most of the oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour, except for the government troops presence in the capital. The province is southeast of Raqqa, where the U.S-backed Syrian opposition forces are battling the Islamic state militants. Late on Saturday, Islamic State militants attacked a base of the SDF forces in Shaddadi town, about 120 kilometers (74 miles) north of Deir el-Zour.

Source: Washington Post August 27, 2017 08:59 UTC