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A military situation in the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor is complicated.
The Syrian army, backed up by the Russian Aerospace Forces, have successfully prevented ISIS attacks aimed to further tighten the siege of the Dier Ezzor Airport. Nonetheless, government forces have been unable to develop a momentum and to link up the airbase with the area of the al-Assad Hospital via a road throughout the Workers housing area.
The army will need retake the Harabesh Mounitain controlled by IISIS before government troops will have a real opportunity to secure Mayssalon and Jiraya. While this is not done, government efforts to solve the ongoing tactical crisis will not lead to a success.
Another problem of government forces is a lack of manpower. According to local sources, the army does not have enough troops to conduct a wide-scale offensive operation against ISIS in the aforementioned areas and to defend crucial defense points at the 137th Brigade Base, the Panorama Roundabout and the HQ 137th Artillery, simultaneously.
While ISIS has an advantage in the manpower, the terrorist group will continue to put pressure on government forces in Deir Ezzor. This problem can be solved by offensive operations against ISIS in central Syria which can draw the terrorist group attention.
Meanwhile, various pro-government sources report that ISIS has lost up to 500 fighters and about 10 units of miltiary equipment in the recent clashes in Deir Ezzor. However, this number looks overstated.
Russian Tu-22M strategic bombers target ISIS positions near Deir Ezzor (more about here):
