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On November 18, ISIS launched a surprise attack on positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Iranian forces between the city of al-Mayadin and the town of al-Kashmah in the southern Deir Ezzor countryside, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
“The violent clashes are accompanied by intensive shelling carried out by the regime forces [SAA], in attempts to repel the organization’s attacks and force it to stop this attack, amid confirmed information about casualties and injuries in the ranks of both parties,” the UK-based monitoring group said in a report.
The ISIS-linked news agency Amaq didn’t release any report regarding the ongoing attack. However, it said that terrorist group’s fighters shelled positions of the SAA on the western bank of the Euphrates River with 35 mortar rounds.
The attack was likely launched by the remaining ISIS cells in the Homs desert, which lays between the western Dier Ezzor countryside and the eastern Homs countryside. The SAA and its allies will likely move to neutralize these cells in the upcoming few months in order to secure central Syria.
