Airstrikes Hit ISIS Cells In Central Syria As Government Forces Conduct Large-Scale Operation (Video)

A Russian Su-24 strike aircraft in the sky over the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Photo: Dmitriy Vinogradov / RIA Novosti

On May 21, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out a series of eight airstrikes on ISIS’s areas of influence in Syria’s central region.

The airstrikes were carried out in support of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and other pro-government formations who are currently conducting a large-scale operation against ISIS cells in the central region.

The operation, which began on May 20, is meant to secure vast parts of the central region, from the eastern Homs countryside all the way to the eastern Hama countryside, the southern Aleppo countryside and the southern Raqqa countryside. The SAA’s elite 25^th Special Mission Forces Division, also known as the Tiger Forces, is leading the operation.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the 25^th Special Mission Forces Division and other SAA units deployed large reinforcements in the eastern Hama countryside to support the operation on May 21. The London-based monitoring group said that the reinforcements included dozens of battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers, multiple rocket launchers as well as hundreds of troops.

So far, there have been no reports on ISIS losses. The terrorist group’s cells are likely laying low in remote parts of the central region to avoid a confrontation with the SAA and its allies.

The operation will likely heat up in the upcoming few days as the SAA and its allies push deeper into the heart of the central region. The operation, which is the largest to target ISIS cells in the region in years, may take a few weeks or even more than a month.

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