Residents of Deir ez-Zor celebrated on the streets, Tuesday, upon hearing today’s announcement that the Syrian Arab Army had lifted the siege that the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) had been carrying out on the city for over two years.

Children as well as their parents took to the streets, waving Syrian flags and chanting slogans in support of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and President Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier in the day, SAA soldiers reached the Brigade 137 base on the western edge of Deir ez-Zor, where a garrison of the Syrian army had been surrounded by IS since 2014.