FIGHTING continued in the Syrian town of Abu Kamal yesterday after a successful Isis counterattack on Saturday.

Syrian government troops and allies including the al-Quds Brigade of Palestinian refugee volunteers advanced on the south-eastern border town under cover of helicopter gunship fire.

Other units began fighting their way south towards Abu Kamal from al-Mayadeen on the River Euphrates.

Three Isis commanders, including a Chechen, were reported killed.

The official Sana news agency said the Syrian air force had flown dozens of air raids against Isis troop concentrations and fortified positions in countryside west of the city.

Syria’s military claimed on Friday to have captured the city following a surprise attack from across the Iraqi border on Thursday, but the extremists regrouped and counterattacked on Saturday.

Lebanon’s al-Masdar News said Isis had abandoned several villages east of the Euphrates to the US-supplied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to reinforce Abu Kamal.

At the Apec summit in Vietnam on Saturday, US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin made a joint statement pledging to defeat Isis.

They “affirmed their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence, territorial integrity and non-sectarian character,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The two leaders also urged participation in a new round of peace talks in Geneva later this month.

Supposedly moderate Western-backed factions have raised objections recently over planned parallel talks with the non-militant opposition to be held in Russia.

Speaking at the Apec summit, Mr Putin said the commitment to territorial integrity was “most important.”

He added: “After the terrorist threat is stopped there, we shall move to a political settlement under the auspices of the United Nations.”

The SDF, dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia, has seized several large oil and gas fields east of the Euphrates in recent weeks and threatens to block the army’s route to the eastern border with Iraq.

On Saturday, Iraq’s military command and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a final offensive to retake the remaining Isis-occupied parts of western Anbar province, including the town of Rawa.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Media Minister Mohammad Momani said an new agreement had been reached with Moscow and Washington to create ceasefire zones in neighbouring southern Syria.