'Island Storm': SDF Launch Op to Drive Daesh Out of Syria's Deir Ez-Zor Province

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The units of the SDF launched an operation against Daesh in the province of Deir Ez-Zor, according to a statement of the local SDF Military Council issued on Saturday.

The operation, called Island Storm, is being conducted along with an anti-terrorist push by Syrian government forces in the same area.

Earlier it was reported that the Syrian army, with Russian air support, has managed to finally break the three-year Daesh siege of the city of Deir ez-Zor. Until that point, food and ammunition had only been delivered to the city by air. Helicopters from the city of Qamishli had evacuated the wounded and delivering essential supplies to the city's population.

The operation to break the siege of Deir ez-Zor, which lies 140 km south east of Raqqa, began after four months of planning and preparation in the wake of the completion of the operation to liberate east Aleppo in January. This operation ended serious rebel activity in western Syria, allowing pro-government forces to turn their attention to the east across the country's desert region into Daesh heartlands.

Simultaneously, the SDF have been carrying out an Operation Euphrates Rage to retake Raqqa from Daesh with the support of the US-led international coalition since November 2016. The province of Raqqa is located west of Deir Ez-Zor.