DAMASCUS Nike Air Max 98 Womens Sale , Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS) group cut off the main road to Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, as the Syrian army laid a siege on the IS militants in areas under their control inside the province's capital city, activists said.
A large number of IS militants attacked Sholah, Kabajeb in the countryside of Deir al-Zour, on the main road leading to the capital city on Thursday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the IS militants also captured a mountain overlooking the key city of Sukhneh in the countryside of the central province of Homs Nike Air Max 98 Mens Sale , also on the road to Deir al-Zour.
The army secured those areas recently before the IS militants unleashed their surprise attack on Thursday.
The Observatory said Friday that the IS militants were advancing in the areas they attacked on Thursday.
The road from Damascus to Deir al-Zour stretches through the desert region in the remote eastern countryside of Homs province in central Syria all the way to reach Sholah and Kabajeb in the countryside of Deir al-Zour before entering the city.
The Syrian forces and its allies captured Sholah earlier this month when they broke the IS's three-year siege on Deir al-Zour capital city, and cleared the main road to the city.
Several checkpoints are set up across the road, surrounded by large swathes of desert, which makes it easy for IS militants to sneak in, particularly when the sun falls.
When Xinhua reporters visited Deir al-Zour last week Nike Air Max 98 Shoes Sale , Russian military convoys were seen on the road, bringing in supplies and military gears.
Even though the main road has been cut off, the Syrian army still has access to the city through the western countryside of Deir al-Zour, particularly through the 137 Brigade base.
But inside Deir al-Zour, the Observatory said the Syrian army and its allies with the help of the Russian backup laid a siege on the IS-held areas in the capital city of Deir al-Zour and some surrounding areas.
The siege laid on IS inside the city is believed to be the main reason behind the extremists' attack to cut the road to Deir al-Zour Nike Air Max 98 Sale , to divert the attention of the Syrian army and possibly open a breach into the city again.
Sources said the army sent reinforcements to regain areas they lost on the main road to Deir al-Zour.
Losing such areas by sudden attacks is not uncommon, as the IS militants frequently attack the road at the entrance of the northern city of Aleppo, which was fully recaptured by the army in December last year.
Deir al-Zour is regarded as the most important stronghold for IS due to its proximity to IS-held areas in neighboring Iraq and its richness in oil and gas fields.
In Damascus, the Observatory said at least 50 Syrian soldiers were killed on Thursday in an ambush in the eastern neighborhood of Ayn Tarma, where the army was fighting the al-Qaida-linked militants.
The war on IS and the al-Qaida-linked militants of the Nusra Front and its allies is ongoing in Syria Cheap Nike Air Max 98 White , as both groups are losing ground and excluded from any settlement, which explains their desperate attacks to survive at a time when the general atmosphere in Syria indicates a near-solution to the six-year war.