An enormous arsenal of various weapons and production facilities, plus a fleet of explosive-laden and armored vehicles has been discovered inside the recaptured Islamic State stronghold in Deir ez-Zor province, RT reports from the Al-Mayadeen frontline.
Following in the footsteps of the Tiger Forces, commanded by Syrian Army Brigadier General Suheil Salman al-Hassan, nicknamed ‘The Tiger’, an RT Arabic crew managed to film a number of warehouses full of weapons that Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) hastily abandoned, fleeing the city to the eastern side of the Euphrates River.
“Weapons warehouses here were simply huge. I’m just shocked by the amount of weapons I saw,” Syrian Army Lt. Col. Rahmi Mauwas told RT at the battlefront. “There are hundreds and even thousands of weapons and ammunition of various kinds.”
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Besides weapons produced by the US, Israel and elsewhere across the Middle East, the Syrian forces discovered that the terrorists also organized its own weapon production in the city. Various types of logistics equipment were also left behind by the fleeing terrorists.
Reporting from the liberated city, the RT Arabic crew documented a number of explosive-laden suicide vehicles that the terrorists had left behind, while the soldiers noted that they also found many “tanks, armored personnel carriers and other armored vehicles” across Al-Mayadeen.
The city was considered the “political, economic and military capital” of IS in Deir ez-Zor province, the colonel said.
“We were able to break the enemy defense concentrated in front of the city… within a short time… we were able to destroy the first line of IS defense, which led to their complete collapse.”
Al-Mayadeen, located just 45km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, was liberated by government troops on Saturday with the help of the Russian air power. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the town was the largest city under IS control in the Euphrates Valley and the main terrorist stronghold in eastern Syria, that was heavily reinforced by terrorist fighters from Iraq.
Syrian Army advance on terrorist positions is continuing in the region, while the engineering units began disabling landmines left in the city by the terrorists.
