I think Deir al Zor is the same place as Deir Ez Zur which is on the Euphrates River in Syria. When I looked it up on Google maps it converted it to Deir Ez Zur.
Isil jihadists take control of Syrian city of Deir Al Zor
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Beirut: The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) group took control of the rebel-held half of the eastern Syrian city of Deir Al Zor on ...
IS jihadists seize more territory in Syria from rivals
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In Focus | Syria
Isil jihadists take control of Syrian city of Deir Al Zor
Al Assad forces remain in control of the other half of the city
- AFP
- Published: 19:14 July 14, 2014
Beirut: The jihadist Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (Isil) group took control of the rebel-held half of
the eastern Syrian city of Deir Al Zor on Monday, buoyed by advances in
neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring group said.
Rival rebel groups fighting
forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad either gave in and joined the
jihadists or fled from the strategic Euphrates valley city, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said.
Al Assad forces remain in
control of the other half of the city, a provincial capital and pre-war
hub of the country’s oil industry.
According to the Observatory, Isil jihadists are now in control of “95 to 98 per cent of Deir Al Zor province”.
Only the regime-controlled half of Deir Al Zor city, a handful of villages and the military airport remain out of Isil control.
The Observatory said that
rivals of Isil, including fighters of Al Qaida’s Syria affiliate Al
Nusra Front, lost control after negotiations failed with the jihadists
who proclaimed a “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq last month.
“Fighters
from Al Nusra Front and the Islamist rebel movement Ahrar Al Sham
withdrew from their bases in the city, while others pledged their
loyalty to Isil,” the Observatory said.
“Isil killed the Deir Al Zor chief of Al Nusra, and raised their flag in the city,” it added.
An activist in Deir Al Zor confirmed the reports, and said the jihadists’ opponents are poorly equipped in comparison.
Isil seized huge supplies of
weapons and money in Iraq’s second city Mosul last month in a lightning
offensive that saw it capture a swathe of territory north and west of
Baghdad.
Its gains in Iraq have tipped
the balance in the struggle for power in rebel-held areas of eastern
and northern Syria where it has been fighting Al Nusra and its rebel
allies since January.
Isil already controls the
city of Raqa upstream from Deir Al Zor where it has earned a reputation
for brutality in its enforcement of its extreme form of Islam, with
public executions, including crucifixions.
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