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Syria army, allies capture Mayadeen from IS: State media

Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad say Islamic State suffered a 'collapse' in its ranks in key town south of Deir Ezzor
A car drives through a damaged street on the outskirts of Deir Ezzor on 24 September 2017 (AFP)

Syrian government and allied forces have taken the eastern Syrian town of Mayadeen, in Deir Ezzor province, from Islamic State, a Syrian military source said on Saturday.

The source said the militants had suffered a "collapse" in their ranks. Mayadeen lies south of Deir Ezzor city, where Syrian and allied forces are trying to oust the militants from a small pocket they still control.

Two separate offensives targeting IS are underway in the eastern oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor, one by Russia-backed government forces and the other by US-backed Kurdish-Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

On Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, which relies on a network of sources inside war-torn Syria, said government forces had retaken four neighbourhoods in Mayadeen.

The state news agency SANA confirmed that government forces had re-entered Mayadeen.

Last week, IS succeeded in expelling Syrian forces from Mayadeen two days after they entered the town.

A Syrian army source had recently described Mayadeen as the "military capital" of the militant organisation in Deir Ezzor.

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