Top Syrian general dies in mine blast
Zahreddine was head of army brigade besieged in Deir Al Zor
BEIRUT: A Syrian army general who led a brigade besieged for three years by Daesh in Deir Al Zor city has died, pro-Syrian government media outlets said yesterday.
Major General Essam Zahreddine, head of the 104 Brigade of the Syrian Republican Guard, was killed by a mine in the city, a military media unit allied to Hezbollah said.
Syrian radio station Sham FM and Lebanese pro-Syrian government TV stations Al Manar and Al Mayadeen also reported his death.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah has provided military support to the Syrian government during Syria’s more than six-year-long war.
Syrian forces, backed by Russian military and Iran-backed militias, lifted the siege in early September. Daesh has lost ground rapidly in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Al Zor in recent weeks.
