The U.S.-led coalition have carried out two airdrops of forces in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour province within the last 36 hours, tracking families of ISIS senior commanders, a monitor group and local activists said.
The airdrops took place in the ISIS-held Burs village and deser Albulail area where 6 ISIS fighters' families from Chechenia Morocco and Egypt were transferred in 6 U.S. helicopters, Journalist Hamad al-Ramadan from Furat Post news site told Zaman al-Wasl.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier on Thursday, a warplane believed to belong to the U.S. coalition was flying at a low altitude in the desert of Albulel, 25 km from a town under the same name in eastern Deir al-Zour, said the Observatory, adding that when people came later to the area they found shaved hair on the ground, in what appeared to be for five people.
On Tuesday, a similar airdrop was carried out likely by the coalition in eastern Deir al-Zour, and the forces targeted two houses used by the IS as munition depots, said the Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on the ground.
The U.S.-led coalition, which has been active in Syria since 2014, has been accused by the Syrian government of being supportive of IS and using the group to pressure the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
The IS has also been besieging Deir al-Zour city for years, and the Syrian army and allied Iranian-backed forces are making strides in the battles against IS in the central desert region, becoming close to breaking the IS siege.
