About 90 pc of Syrian territory freed from terrorists: CIS

Moscow, Oct 5: Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS) Anti-Terrorism Centre head Andrei Novikov said on Thursday that about 90 per cent of Syria’s territory has been liberated from the Islamic State (IS) terrorist groups. "According to the estimates of the military, 90 percent of Syria's territory has been freed of IS terrorist groups, which is a very positive result," Novikov told RIA news agency. In early September, the Syrian government troops, backed by Russian airstrikes, broke a three-year IS blockade to the west and south of Deir ez-Zor. Earlier this week, the Syrian Army crossed the Euphrates River with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces near Deir ez-Zor, dislodging militants from a number of settlements, and are currently developing an offensive eastward. Militants of the IS terrorist group (banned in Russia), suffering losses in Syria are relocating to Pakistan, Novikov pointed out. "Relocation of significant IS forces from Syria to Iraq to the territory of Waziristan (Pakistan) with further redistribution is observed since the fall of 2016,” he added. "The majority of terrorists will return to their origin countries, or go to other states (both CIS and the European Union countries) via the routes they used to leave for conflict zones,” Novikov said. Novikov also noted that the Russia-West sanctions regime seriously complicates the cooperation of security services of these countries. UNI