Syria fully liberated from terrorists - Russia's top brass

MOSCOW. KAZINFORM Syria is fully liberated from terrorists, all units of the Islamic State (IS) terror group (outlawed in Russia) have been destroyed, Chief of Russia's General Staff, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, said at an annual briefing for foreign defense attaches on Wednesday, according to TASS .

"All ISIL [former name of IS - TASS] units in Syria have been destroyed, and the territory has been liberated," he said, adding that Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu had informed President Putin about that.

"Today the advancing units of Brigadier General Hassan Sukhel and the 5th Volunteer Assault Corps routed the remaining illegal armed forces (in the Deir ez-Zor province - TASS) and, having liberated the inhabited communities of Al-Salihiyah, Al-Khreita, al-Katia and Musalaha, merged with the government troops advancing from the south. Thus, there are no territories controlled by ISIL in Syria today," Gerasimov concluded.

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the last Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria diminished to an area of 7 to 10 kilometers.