2 November 2017: Smoke billows from the city of Deir Ezzor during an operation by Syrian government forces against Islamic StateAFP3 November 2017: Iraqi forces and members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) advance towards the city of al-QaimAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP
Deir al-Zour – on the west bank of the Euphrates River – had been divided into a government-held and an Isis-held part for nearly three years. Also known as Deir Ezzor, it is the largest city in eastern Syria and the capital of the province with the same name. It is also the largest to be recaptured by the Syrian government from Isis.
24 September 2017: People displaced from Deir Ezzor head to refugee camps on the outskirts of RaqqaBulent Kilic/AFP2 October 2017: Syrians displaced from the city of Deir Ezzor gather on the outskirts of RaqqaAFP11 October 2017: Syrians displaced from the city of Deir Ezzor arrive on the outskirts of RaqqaBulent Kilic/AFP29 October 2017: Children play at a camp for internally displaced people in Ain Issa, SyriaChris McGrath/Getty Images29 October 2017: A man feeds his sheep next to his truck filled with household and salvaged items at a camp for internally displaced people in Ain Issa, SyriaChris McGrath/Getty Images29 October 2017: A girl fills a bottle with water at a camp for internally displaced people in Ain IssaChris McGrath/Getty Images31 October 2017: A Syrian pro-government fighter watches as smoke and dust rise from Deir EzzorAFP2 November 2017: A Syrian government soldier forces flashes the "V" for victory sign in Deir EzzorAFP2 November 2017: Discarded shells are seen in the foreground during an operation by Syrian government forces against Isis in Deir EzzorAFP
The Syrian army, backed by Russia and Iran, and Kurdish-led Syrian forces, backed by the United States, are now racing to take the rest of the oil-rich eastern province of Deir el-Zour, including the key town of Boukamal near the Iraqi border.
Just across the border from Boukamal lies the town of al-Qaim, Islamic State's last territorial stronghold in Iraq. An Iraqi officer in Iraq's western Anbar region said they are pushing into western neighbourhoods of the town. Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pledged the battle will be finished within days.
The strategically located town was used by Isis to ferry fighters and supplies between the two countries at the height of the caliphate, when they held nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria.
1 November 2017: A mother watches over her wounded child at a field hospital in Akashat, south of the town of al-QaimAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP1 November 2017: Women displaced from the outskirts of the city of al-Qaim gather in a safer placeAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP1 November 2017: Iraqi forces and members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) advance towards the city of al-QaimAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP2 November 2017: Iraqi forces and members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) advance towards the city of al-QaimAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP2 November 2017: Iraqi forces and members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) advance towards the city of al-QaimAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP2 November 2017: Iraqi forces and members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) advance towards the city of al-QaimAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP3 November 2017: Iraqi forces and members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) advance towards the city of al-QaimAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP3 November 2017: Iraqi forces and members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) advance towards the city of al-QaimAhmad al-Rubaye/AFP3 November 2017: Shia Popular Mobilisation Forces fighters fire artillery Islamic State militants in al-QaimReuters3 November 2017: Shia Popular Mobilisation Forces advance towards the town of al-QaimReuters
The US-led international military coalition, which has run an air campaign against Isis in both Syria and Iraq since 2014, said in a statement that approximately 1,500 jihadists were estimated to remain in the immediate vicinity of al-Qaim.
The militants, routed from one urban stronghold after another, have recently been moving deeper into Syria's remote desert, where experts say they are regrouping and preparing to return to guerrilla-style attacks including scattered hit-and-run and suicide bombings.