Illustrative image, by the SANA
On March 14, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) shelled several hideouts of ISIS in a desert area southwester of the city of Deir Ezzor from its positions in the Tharda mount, according to the Syrian pro-opposition Jorf News outlet.
The desert area in the western Deir Ezzor is a part of the Homs desert, which covers thousands of square kilometers between Homs, Deir Ezzor, Damascus and Raqqa. ISIS maintains a strong presence in the heart of this desert.
According to the available information, more than 1,000 terrorists are currently stationed in the Homs desert. These fighters are believed to be highly-experienced and well-armed.
In a recent report, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed that the desert has become a safe haven for ISIS. The monitoring group said that over 300 terrorists managed to flee from their last positions in the middle Euphrates River Valley to the desert over the last few weeks.
Pro-government activists believe that the new artillery strikes near the city of Deir Ezzor were aimed at preventing more terrorists from reaching the Homs desert.
These efforts remain short of what is needed to neutralize the terrorist group’s threat in central Syria. The upcoming few months will likely witness a large-scale military operation against ISIS remnants in the Homs desert and several regions around it.
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Exterminate the vermin.
Not happening. Go to https://isis.liveuamap.com to see how Daesh are attacking on a daily basis and are showing no signs of being exterminated
This ISIS infestation should have been taken care of years ago. I fail to see why the SAA and the Russians have allowed it to fester. It’s not as if they have to keep their forces at the ready to march into Idlib or East Syria, as neither seems likely for now. It’s like taking care of this ISIS presence is no priority whatsoever. And this neglect will come to bite them in the ass sooner or later.
Remember when Assad bussed out the ISIS fighters and families from Yarmouk? They were dropped off at that same region where the SAA has conducted sweeps and is now shelling. I thought that was odd at the time since ISIS requested to go there when the SAA had control of all the villages. The villages are located at the only source of water in that particular area of the vast desert so had a hunch that Assad was willing to provide them with water and food supplies as long as they tried to work their way back into Iraq. I’m pretty sure that ISIS did try since they were subjected to bombings by the coalition air forces when in the desert west of Abu Kamal. Afterwards ISIS conducted a series of raids or probes along the west bank of the river, probably to see if there was a weak point where they could establish a location to cross the river en masse to their strongholds on the east bank. Those failed so somehow they’ve managed to stay alive out there even though they have a thousands of people that require food, water and shelter. ISIS is getting assistance from somewhere on a regular basis and it’s not coming in by motorcycle or in the back of small pick-up trucks. ISIS still has a shitload of cash on hand so probably is bribing the right people to look the other way as their large supply convoys pass by.