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Early on February 5, ISIS cells ambushed a unit of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) near the town of al-Mayadin in the western Deir Ezzor countryside.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the unit was conducting a combing operation in al-Tayarat area when it came under attack by the terrorists.
“Four pro-regime gunmen were killed and six others were wounded,” the London-based monitoring group said. “The dead and wounded were taken to Deir Ezzor’s Military Hospital.”
The attack followed reports of intense airstrikes on the Homs desert – the ISIS stronghold in Syria’s central region. During the last 24 hours, more than 54 Syrian and Russian airstrikes hit the terrorist group’s fighters, hideouts and positions in the desert.
Earlier this week, the SAA concluded a large-scale operation along the Homs-Deir Ezzor highway, the M20. The highway was completely secured.
The operation forced ISIS cells to move away from the strategic highway. The terrorists are now apparently stepping up their attacks in the Hama-Aleppo-Raqqa triangle and western Deir Ezzor.
The SAA and its allies may soon kick off a new large operation either in the Hama-Aleppo-Raqqa triangle or in western Deir Ezzor. This will place more pressure on ISIS cells in the central region, which allegedly receive support from US-backed fighters in the nearby area of al-Tanf.
I read the story just to see if these were Russian airstrikes on ISIS or Israeli airstrikes against Syrians.