Syrian Regime Retakes Deir Ezzor from ISIS

Members of Syrian regime forces stand at the entrance to Deir Ezzor city. The writing in Arabic reads: 'Welcome to Deir Ezzor.' AFP file photo
Members of Syrian regime forces stand at the entrance to Deir Ezzor city. The writing in Arabic reads: 'Welcome to Deir Ezzor.' AFP file photo
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Syrian Regime Retakes Deir Ezzor from ISIS

Members of Syrian regime forces stand at the entrance to Deir Ezzor city. The writing in Arabic reads: 'Welcome to Deir Ezzor.' AFP file photo
Members of Syrian regime forces stand at the entrance to Deir Ezzor city. The writing in Arabic reads: 'Welcome to Deir Ezzor.' AFP file photo

Syrian regime forces said Friday they have liberated the eastern city of Deir Ezzor from ISIS, putting them in full control of the long contested city.

The forces and their allies first broke the militant group's siege of its part of the city in September and have been advancing against ISIS positions since then.

Deir Ezzor had been divided into a regime-held and an ISIS-held part for nearly three years.

The development is the latest significant defeat for ISIS as the extremist group sees its self-proclaimed "caliphate" crumble and lose almost all urban strongholds.

The Syrian regime forces and Kurdish-led forces backed by the US are now racing to take the rest of the oil-rich eastern province.

The developments in the Syrian battlefield came as Iraqi forces punched into ISIS’ last urban bastion across the border.

The simultaneous assaults on Deir Ezzor and Al-Qaim in western Iraq dealt fresh blows to to the terrorist group in its former heartland, leaving Albu Kamal, on the Syrian side of the border, the last town of note under its full control.

Also Friday, a suicide car bomb attack killed nine people in a regime-held village in Syria's Golan Heights, regime media said.

The car bomb hit the outskirts of the village of Hader, and had injured at least 23 people.



Israel Carries Out Intense Airstrikes in Southern Lebanon, 1 Dead

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Israel Carries Out Intense Airstrikes in Southern Lebanon, 1 Dead

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Israel’s air force carried out intense airstrikes on mountains overlooking a southern Lebanon city on Friday in an attack that the Israeli military said targeted Hezbollah underground assets.

The airstrikes came in two waves on the mountains overlooking Nabatiyeh and bunker buster bombs were used, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. There was no immediate information about casualties.

Since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes on southern Lebanon. Friday’s strikes were more intense than usual.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its fighter jets struck a site used by Hezbollah to manage its fire and defense array in the area and is part of a significant underground project that was completely taken out of use.

The Israeli army said it identified rehabilitation attempts by Hezbollah beforehand and struck infrastructure sites in the area.

There was no comment from Hezbollah.

An Israeli drone also targeted on Friday an apartment in a two-story building in Nabatiyeh.

Lebanon's health ministry said a woman was killed and 11 other people were wounded in the strike.

"The Israeli enemy strike on an apartment in Nabatiyeh led to a preliminary toll of one woman killed and 11 people wounded," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official National News Agency.