BEIRUT: Russian-backed Syrian government forces have all but encircled Daesh (ISIS) militants in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, an activist group said Wednesday.

The state-run news agency SANA said fighting was intense between the pro-government forces and the militants in the village of Husseinieh on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, across from the remaining militant pockets in the city on the other side.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Husseinieh is the only contested village on the eastern side of the river before the militants are fully surrounded.

Russian engineers extended pontoon bridges across the Euphrates, facilitating the dispatch of reinforcements to the eastern banks of the river, where Syrian troops are closing in on Daesh militants from the west.

Backed by Russia, Syrian forces have advanced since early September on Deir al-Zor, where the militants had besieged government troops in a military base in the north and at an air base south of the city. Since breaching that siege, regime forces have crossed the river, bringing them in a direct race with U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces who are also battling militants on the eastern side of the river and in rural Deir al-Zor.

The race for control of territory and resources in the oil-rich province on the border with Iraq has caused friction between the two sides.

Russia and the United States say they are working out a deconfliction mechanism to avoid friction in the common fight against Daesh.

Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry said it killed five senior members of an Al-Qaeda-linked group operating in northwestern Syria in an airstrike.Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the five were responsible for the attack on Russian military police in Hama province last week. He didn’t specify when the airstrike took place.

The Russian military said the airstrike was based on intelligence about an upcoming high-level meeting of the leaders of Al-Qaeda-linked Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham south of the city of Idlib. It said the five included the leader of the group’s unit in south Idlib, a financial chief for the group, and an adviser to one of the group’s ideologues, Saudi preacher Abdullah al-Muhaysini.