A US-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters captured the main city in eastern Syria and a key border crossing with Iraq on Friday, effectively taking control of Syria's vast eastern desert.
Two security sources based in eastern Syria told Reuters that by Friday afternoon the alliance, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had taken full control of the city of Deir el-Zor, the third city to fall from President Bashar al-Assad's control.
Omar Abu Leyla, an activist from the media platform "Deir Ezzor 24" with contacts in the city, told Reuters that Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed Iraqi fighters had withdrawn from Deir el-Zor before the SDF attacked.
Shortly after, the Syrian Democratic Forces crossed through the Albu Kamal border crossing with Iraq, two Syrian military sources told Reuters.
The city of Deir el-Zor has changed hands several times since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011 following protests against Assad.