THE Syrian army launched an offensive yesterday to lift the Isis siege of the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.

The army’s 5th Legion and Tiger Forces broke through Isis lines east of Palmyra and pushed on towards Arak along the road to Deir Ezzor.

Isis seized control of Deir Ezzor province from the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels and its al-Qaida allies in April 2014 and has been trying to capture the government bastion of 200,000 people since then.