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Islamic State
used at least two car bombs in its latest assault on the air
base near the city of Deir al-Zor, where government troops are
holed up, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It said at least 18 soldiers and 23 Islamic State fighters had
been killed. The base is one of President Bashar al-Assad's last
footholds in eastern Syria. There was no mention of the attack
on state media.
After more than four years of war, Assad's sway is now mostly
confined the cities of western Syria, with the rest held by
Islamic State, other insurgent groups, or a Kurdish militia,
which controls much of the north.
On Wednesday, Syrian state TV said government troops had quit
the Abu al-Duhur air base in the northwesterly Idlib province
after a two-year siege by insurgents including the al
Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
Deir al-Zor province borders territories in Iraq that are also
controlled by Islamic State, and its oilfields are a major
source of revenue for the group.
A U.S.-led coalition has been attacking Islamic State from the
air in Deir al-Zor and the neighboring Raqqa province.
(Reporting by John Davison)
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