The Islamic State group launched an offensive against government forces in eastern Syria on Saturday and captured several buildings, including a hospital, in clashes that left more than two dozen people dead on both sides.
Deir el-Zour, near the border with Iraq, is split between government forces and IS fighters. Government-held areas have been under a months-long siege by the extremists, and the U.N. has been airdropping aid to residents amid food and medicine shortages.
The Local Coordination Committees, an activist-run collective, said IS fighters have captured the Assad hospital, university dorms and grain silos in an advance that began at dawn.