The army recaptured the mountainous al-Hail district and surrounding areas on Tuesday and launched a clean-up operation afterwards, Lebanon'sal-Ahednews website said.
The liberation of the area, which overlooks the ancient city of Palmyra, paves the way for retaking the historiccity ofTadmur which fell to Daesh last May.
Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has seen shocking scenes of pillage and looting by Daesh of some of its valuable archaeological areas over the past months.
Syrian sources also said two Daesh ringleaders had been killed in a Russian airstrike in Raqqah. They identified them as Abu-Hammam al-Tunisi and Abu Hamzah al-Ansari.
Russia launched an aircampaign against Daesh and other terrorist groups on September 30, 2015 upon a request bythe Syrian government.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the bulk of Russian military forces to withdraw from Syriaon March 14.
The Arab countryhas been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the countrys pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
By Press TV
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