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On November 1, ISIS fighters attacked several positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies around the heavily fortified area of al-Safa, which lays between the Damascus desert and the governroate of al-Suwayda. 20 soldiers and officers of the SAA were reportedly killed and injured.
Later, ISIS fighters shelled other positions of the SAA with 10 mortar rounds. The terrorist group news agency Amaq said that the positions had been hit accurately.
The SAA faced another setback during its operations in al-Safa on November 1, when a friendly-fire incident claimed the lives of 7 local fighters. According to the Syria-based al-Suwayda 24 blog, a battle tank of the SAA hit the fighters by mistake due to the rough terrain.
A day earlier, the SAA attempted to advance in al-Safa. However, ISIS repelled the attack and claimed that its fighters had killed and injured 33 personnel of the army. Later, it was revealed that the SAA lost two soldiers only.
The SAA resumed its military operations against the remaining ISIS fighters in al-Safa on October 27. However, it is yet to make any significant advance due to the rough terrain and the bad weather conditions.
