BEIRUT ¨C Syrian and allied forces backed by Russian airstrikes drove Islamic State militants out of the town of al-Qaryatain on Sunday after encircling it over the past few days, Syria¡¯s military command said.
Surrounded by hills, al-Qaryatain is 100 km (60 miles) west of the ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces recaptured from Islamic State last Sunday.
Al-Qaryatain had been held by the militant group since late August. Syrian President Bashar Assad has been trying to retake al-Qaryatain and other pockets of Islamic State control to reduce the jihadi group¡¯s ability to project military power into the heavily populated western region of Syria, where Damascus and other main cities are located.
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