PRESS RELEASE

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Russian Foreign Ministry: 91% of Syria Is Liberated

Oct. 10, 2017 (EIRNS)—The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that over 91% of Syria has been liberated from Islamic State (IS) forces, RT reported yesterday.

The Syrian Army and its allies have encircled IS fighters in the city of Al-Mayadeen, one of the terrorist strongholds southeast of Deir Ezzor, the official Syrian SANA news agency reported.

RIA Novosti reported that "Assault detachments of the Syrian Army are conducting clearance operations on the western outskirts of Mayadeen." The Russian Defense Minstry said on Oct. 7 that dozens of IS militants, including warlords and foreign fighters, were killed in a recent series of airstrikes in Syria. The air force also targeted command posts, heavy weaponry, and ammunition depots.

The Foreign Ministry warned yesterday that the terrorist Al-Nusra Front could quickly replace IS if the international community did not take urgent measures against it.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said,

"It is time for all nations to set aside their ambitions and conflicts and unite for the sake of the final defeat of IS and other extremist groups which, without any exaggeration, have challenged human civilization,"

in an interview with the Algerian information agency APS. Medvedev said that international terrorism was a global challenge, and therefore it could be countered only by mutual and well-coordinated efforts on the basis of international law.