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Beirut (AFP)
Twenty-six members of the regime forces and militants loyal to them were killed Monday in a new attack by ISIS, which has recently stepped up its attacks in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The intensification of their attacks, according to analysts, reflects the difficulty of permanently eliminating their cells, which operate in the vast Syrian desert that stretches from the east of the Hama and Homs governorates (central) to the easternmost of the Governorate of Deir Ezzor (east).
The Observatory stated that ISIS operatives operating in the Syrian Badia carried out an ambush on Monday morning, targeting a military convoy of regime forces and militants loyal to them in the desert city of Al-Mayadeen in the Eastern field of Deir Ezzor. After the ambush, violent clashes broke out between the two parties.
The attack killed 26 regime forces and militants loyal to them, and 11 ISIS operatives were killed, according to the observatory, which said government forces sent military reinforcements to the fighting area.
Despite the heavy losses it suffered, especially with the announcement of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab factions supported by Washington, in March 2019 to eliminate it, the extremist organization continues to wage a war of attrition against the Syrian army. and fighters loyal to him on one side and Kurdish forces on the other.
With the increasing frequency of ISIS attacks, the Syrian desert has become a scene of clashes, especially between jihadists and the forces of the Russian-backed regime.
The organization launches its attacks against regime forces in particular, from its strongholds in the Badia region, despite Russian attacks on its sites from time to time in support of government forces that are conducting combing operations in the area in order to stop jihadist attacks.
Earlier this month, 19 members of the regime forces and militants loyal to them were killed in an attack launched by ISIS east of Hama. Earlier this year, some 40 of those forces were killed in an ambush by jihadists also in Badia.
Since March 2019, the observatory has documented the killing of more than 1,300 regime forces and militants loyal to them, as well as more than 700 jihadists, as a result of attacks and battles.
The UN Security Council Committee working on ISIS and other jihadist groups estimated in a report this month that the extremist organization had 10,000 “active” fighters in Syria and Iraq.
The report indicated that, although the majority of these people are in Iraq, “the pressure exerted by the Iraqi security forces makes it difficult to implement ISIS operations (on its territory)” compared to Syria.
The Syrian desert in Deir Ezzor governorate provides, according to the report, a “safe haven for ISIS fighters who have established” relationships with smuggling networks operating across Iraqi borders. “
The conflict in Syria, since its outbreak in 2011, has caused more than 387,000 deaths and has depleted infrastructure and the economy, in addition to the displacement of more than six million Syrians within the country and the displacement of 5.5 million abroad. according to the United Nations.
© 2021 AFP
