Syrian government forces and their allies have recaptured territory from the self-proclaimed Islamic State group in countryside southeast of its stronghold, Raqqa, after air strike sin the area.
The advances towards the provincial boundary between Raqqa and Deir al-Zor took place late yesterday, a media unit run Hezbollah – a Lebanese ally of the Syrian government - and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights both said.
The army seized an oil field in the Sabkha area as part of the advance.
It was a rare advance for Syrian forces in that area, which is close to territory controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-dominated alliance separately fighting IS.
It also brings government forces closer to Deir al-Zor province, another IS stronghold.
The Syrian army has active front lines with IS in western Raqqa province and has made recent gains there.
Incidents between the Syrian military and SDF last month raised tension between the United States and Damascus and its ally Russia.
Separately in the north of Syria, one of the country's most complicated battlegrounds, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are fighting US-backed Kurdish forces over control of some areas along the border, in clashes that threaten to distract from the fight against IS.
The Kurdish YPG militia, which forms the largest part of the SDF, controls much of northeastern Syria after capturing vast tracts of land from IS.
