DAMASCUS, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army recaptured the areas infiltrated by the Islamic State (IS) militants in their latest offensive in the country's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
All points taken by IS over the past two days in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour were retaken by the Syrian army and allied forces, said SANA, adding that the terror-labeled group had suffered great losses.
The counter offensive by the Syrian army was precise and targeted the IS militants who snuck over the past two days from IS-held areas on the eastern bank of Euphrates River to military positions and other "important" areas on the western bank of the river.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 45 pro-government Syrian fighters have been killed over the past two days during the IS offensive.
After losing large swathes of territories, the IS militants still hold some pockets on the eastern bank of Euphrates River and occasionally attempt to wage attacks on Syrian military positions there.
In a recent report, the Observatory said that the IS control in Syria has shrunk to three percent after losing large swathes of areas to the Syrian army and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
IS now controls scattered pockets in the eastern countryside of Homs province, the southeastern desert of Deir al-Zour province, an area on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River and a pocket in the northern countryside of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria.
IS also controls pockets in the Yarmouk basin in the countryside of the southern province of Daraa as well as pockets in the southern countryside of Hasakah province in northern Syria.
