DAMASCUS, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received on Tuesday a letter of congratulations from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on breaking the Islamic State (IS) siege on the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, according to state news agency SANA.
"This achievement is an important step on the road to liberating Syria from the terrorist groups," Putin said in his letter.
"I am confident that through our joint efforts we will achieve victory and restore peace and stability to the Syrian territories," he added.
Russian forces have been essential in supporting the Syrian army in their recent push to end IS three-year siege on Deir al-Zour.
Earlier in the day, the Syrian army and allied Iranian-backed forces reached the outskirts of Deir al-Zour, and lifted the siege of a government-held enclave.
The progressing forces broke the siege from the western part of the city through the Brigade 137, where a garrison of forces had been besieged by IS for three years.
About 93,000 civilians were surrounded by IS in the enclave of government loyalists in the city, half of which is controlled by IS.
Breaking the siege is the goal of an operation launched in May in the Syrian desert in the eastern countryside of Homs Province in central Syria, coupled with another offensive by the army in the southern countryside of Raqqa Province in northern Syria.
Deir al-Zour is the last major stronghold of IS, as the terror-designated group is also losing its de-facto capital of Raqqa to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which has captured more than 60 percent of Raqqa.
