The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

East of Deir ez-Zor | Escorted by regime border guards, Russian troops roam along the Iraq- Syria border

Deir ez-Zor Province- Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has monitored today a Russian military column, accompanied by the Syrian regime border guards, roaming along the Iraqi-Syrian border, near the city of Albu Kamal in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.

According to Observatory sources, regime forces had earlier brought in caravans and prefabricated rooms to that border area.

Local sources spoke of the establishment of a military base, believed to be of Russian-backed militias, and the deployment of military forces in order to control the land border with Iraq.

On August 25, SOHR sources reported that the regime-backed Palestinian “Liwaa Al-Quds, working under the guidance of Russian forces, started with other regime loyalists a new sweeping operation in Deir Ezzor desert.

The operation covered an area stretching from Al-Shawla desert in western Deir Ezzor to Al-Bokamal desert to the east, with the purpose of searching for ISIS cells in the wake of the killing of a Russian general a few days earlier. This campaign coincided with escalating Russian airstrikes on the Syrian desert, targeting ISIS positions.