FILE PHOTO:A man holds bread as he walks along a damaged street filled with debris in Deir al-Zor, eastern Syria February 19, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo BEIRUT, September 5 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces advanced against Islamic State on Tuesday to reach troops surrounded for years by the jihadists in a government-held enclave in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, pro-Damascus media outlets and a monitoring group reported. "The Syrian army and its allies break the siege on Deir al-Zor," a military media unit run by Syria's ally Hezbollah said. State television and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that advancing Syrian forces had linked up with government troops in Deir al-Zor. The army and its allies had made lightning advances in recent days and pushed through Islamic State lines to within kilometres of Deir al-Zor. Islamic State had since 2014 besieged the government-held enclave, where some 93,000 civilians live and an army garrison is stationed. Deir al-Zor is located southeast of Islamic State's former stronghold Raqqa, most of which has been captured in a separate offensive by U.S.-backed Syrian militias. Islamic State fighters are believed to have fled to areas around Deir al-Zor as the group loses areas of Raqqa. Both cities lie in oil-rich areas on the Euphrates river.
