Syrian government troops advanced overnight against the Islamic State group in the country's north and centre, drawing closer to the key battleground of Deir Ezzor, a monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the army had made "significant progress" south of Raqa city.
"There is now just four kilometres between regime forces and the town of Madan, which is the last town controlled by IS in the Raqa countryside," the Observatory said.
Madan lies next to the border between Raqa province and Deir Ezzor, an eastern province that is mostly held by IS.
Jihadists have besieged government forces and civilians inside the provincial capital Deir Ezzor city since 2015.
Syrian loyalist troops are battling IS in the south of Raqa province separately from an offensive by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a militia that is fighting the jihadists inside Raqa city.
The regime is also fighting IS in central Homs province, where overnight they captured the last jihadist-held town in the area, the Observatory said.
The capture of Al-Sukhna opens the route for government troops to advance towards Deir Ezzor on a second axis.
There was no official confirmation of Sukhna's capture from Syria's government.
State news agency SANA said the army had surrounded the town from three sides.
Since May, Syria's army has been conducting a broad military campaign with Russian support to recapture the vast Badia desert region that separates the capital Damascus from Deir Ezzor.
The Observatory said at least 64 IS fighters were killed in clashes with the regime and air strikes across the Badia region on Saturday.
Among the dead were 30 killed in the fight for Al-Sukhna, the monitor said.
Already defeated in its Iraqi bastion of Mosul, IS is facing multiple assaults in Syria.
The SDF now control more than half of Raqa city, a key IS stronghold.
Turkey sends more artillery to Syrian border
Istanbul (AFP) Aug 5, 2017 –
Turkey sent artillery units to the border with Syria Saturday, where its army regularly clashes with Kurdish militia, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
A military convoy with at least five howitzers arrived overnight at the southern city of Kilis the scene of recent cross-border fire between the Turkish army and the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG).
The new units were there to reinforce rather than replace the artillery already in place, the agency reported, citing military sources.
Across the border from the province of Kilis lies an area of northwest Syria that is controlled by the YPG, which is Washington-backed but deemed a terror group by Ankara.
Turkish troops and YPG have exchanged fire in the region several times in recent months and Turkey has threatened to launch another cross-border offensive.
Turkey considers the YPG as the Syrian arm of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an over three decade insurgency against the Turkish state.
But the United States works closely with the group as the best ground force in Syria to defeat Islamic State (IS) jihadists. Turkey's NATO allies do not regard the YPG as a terror organisation.
Already in August 2016, Turkey launched a ground offensive into norther Syria to push back IS fighters and prevent the YPG forces linking up their different zones of control.
Outgoing UN envoy says now up to Cypriots to strike deal
The United Nations will not resurrect the collapsed Cyprus reunification talks as the onus is now on the divided island's rival communities to prove they really want a long-elusive settlement, the outgoing UN envoy said Thursday.
"If people want change, they need to stand up for change," Espen Barth Eide told reporters after a meeting in Nicosia with President Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek C … read more
