The end of the Syrian war seems around the corner with the near collapse of the Islamic State (IS) group and the change of the international stance toward President Bashar al-Assad, experts say.
IS NEAR DEFEAT IN SYRIA
The Islamic State's fighters in Syria are reeling and buckling under the pressure of the massive assaults on their key positions in Syria.
The Syrian army and its allied Iranian-backed fighters have taken large swathes of territory in the Syrian desert in central Syria, following months-long battles with the IS militants.
Dubbed the "Great Dawn," the military operation that has been dragging on since May 2017, has enabled the army to reach border points with Jordan and Iraq through the Syrian desert region in the eastern countryside of Homs province in central Syria.
The desert operation has also stripped IS of key hub areas, mainly the city of al-Sukhnah, which was the key for the army to reach the administrative border of the IS-sieged Deir al-Zour province.
On Friday, the army announced reaching the border of Deir al-Zour, from the direction of al-Sukhnah.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday the army has become so close to breaking the IS siege in the capital city of Deir al-Zour, which has been in place since 2015.
Some reports said hours are left until the siege is broken.
Deir al-Zour is the second, but the most important bastion for the IS militants, due to its proximity to IS-held areas in Iraq. Its first declared de-facto capital in Syria is the northern province of Raqqa, which is also under attack.
The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on the ground, said the army and its allies have so far taken 3,000 sq km of territory in the vicinity of Deir al-Zour.
The UN and the Syrian army are carrying expensive airdrops of food and aid to around 100,000 besieged people in the besieged city of Deir al-Zour.
The Russian Defense Ministry said recently the army was close to breaking the IS siege in Deir al-Zour.
The army operations in the sprawling desert have also extended to the eastern countryside of the central Hama province, where IS holds key areas there.
The army on Friday drove out the IS militants from their key stronghold of Uqayribat town in the eastern countryside of Hama province in central Syria.
The town was a main IS stronghold and a launching pad for the IS attacks against the army in Hama countryside.
The IS control over the town had also posed a threat to the road between Hama and the northern province of Aleppo.
So now the army is close to declaring the victory against IS in the eastern countryside of Hama, the eastern Homs countryside in the desert, after laying a siege on IS-held areas, making it a matter of time before they completely surrender or get killed.
That will leave the efforts focused on Deir al-Zour.
In Raqqa, the self-declared capital of IS, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian fighters led by the Kurdish YPG, is also advancing against IS in the city of Raqqa.
The SDF said it had controlled the old city of Raqqa, following the sweeping progress made against IS.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF were in control of 90 percent of the old quarter of Raqqa city, becoming close to the "secure zone" of IS, which "has reached the stage of collapse in Raqqa."
The London-based watchdog group said the IS militants have no place to treat their wounded militants, adding that the terror-designated group is killing its militants which suspect their cooperation with the SDF.
The Observatory said the advance of the Syrian army progress in Hama equals five times the size of Raqqa.
Reports already suggest that the SDF is controlling over 60 percent of Raqqa.
