UPDATE:
#ISIS_hunters have no plans for Hama yet. New unit to fulfill special tasks in #DeirEzzor.
Anyway thanks to @IvanSidorenko1 for photos… although only few of them related to us.#Euphrates #Syria #DeirEzzor #ديرالزور #سوريا #Russia #روسيا #almayadin #الميادين #ISIS pic.twitter.com/yImRJohAS2— ISIS Hunters (@ISIS_Hunters) 25 December 2017
A flag of the ISIS Hunters
The elite ISIS Hunters of the 5th Assault Corps will participate in the upcoming operation against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) in the province of Idlib.
According to pro-government sources, the ISIS Hunters are now re-deploying some of their units from the provinces of Homs and Deir Ezzor to the northern Hama countryside.
Reports also appeared that the ISIS Hunters with the help of Russian military addvisers have started creating new units in the northern Hama.
The ISIS Hunters are an elite unit of the Russian-trained 5th Assault Corps. Some experts believe that the unit is closely linked to Russian-linked private military contractors.
The analysis about the 5th Assault Corps was originally released by SouthFront in March 2017:
The analysis below was originally released by SouthFront in January 2017:
God bless each one of them.
al-Qaeda Hunters!
Wahhabi Hunters ! We send you Godspeed .
Does this mean that the ISIS units trapped in the desert will now be left to be handled by the 2nd and 3rd tier units? That will be fun. As in not. Expect some nasty surprises to happen at the hands of ISIS. Underestimate those guys at your own peril.
Maybe SAA figure it’s easier to wait for ISIS to attack their defensive positions, rather than go searching for them in their own turf and risk ambush? I don’t know. How easy is it to hide in the desert? Would’ve thought surveillance craft/drones could detect ISIS encampments in the open desert?
Desert represents a very low strategic value after it was surrounded by SAA. Daesh may be able to mount small scale attacks, but they are mostly reduced to banditry. Being holed up in the desert is tough, and it is completely sound strategy to starve them out. The area will be user surveillance and the encampments will be found out. And then they will be cleared out.
For me there is a great strategic error with several measures adopted for SAA and allies. Leave quiet dangerous ISIS’s units around west Euphrates Valley will be a massive risk, including towards Palmyra. I cannot understand this tatical change. Several ISIS troops were weakened during Al Bukamal defeat. They are encicled. But now they will get more weapons, resources and manpower. The time will can be bad for SAA in that area.
If they are encircled, how do they get more weapons, resources and manpower?
Through underground channels or corruption. Or hidden schemes to transport and arms trafficking.
they already liberaty 30% of that pocket since 2 weeks ago , and we didn’t hear anything since . maybe they were busy straightening there positions amid the planed advanced on hayat tahrir el sham . maybe they already finished with that pocket and we just don’t know . you have too little infos to judge the actions of the best millitaries in the world . they know there shit . leave it to the pros
It’s a huge desert, they are not encircled … anyway it’s Iran’s job to take care of that front for now. Forget about it, noone gives a shit what goes on in Deir ezzor villages in the middle of nowhere, now that ISIS doesn’t hold inhabited territory. That’s a secondary front now.
saa abandoned isis in deir ezzor