On December 19, pro-government sources revealed new details about the recent ISIS attack on the western Deir Ezzor countryside.
According to the sources, ISIS terrorists attacked the strategic M20 highway, which links Deir Ezzor’s city center with Homs, simultaneously from two directions in the late hours of December 17.
Some of the terrorist group’s fighters advanced from the Homs desert south of the highway and attacked Syrian Arab Army (SAA) positions near the town of al-Shola. The army’s positions north of the highway were attacked by fighters coming from hideouts in the northeastern Hama desert.
Click to see full-size map. Source: (@Suriyakmaps) on Twitter.
Despite the initial success, ISIS cells failed to reach the highway due to the fierce resistance of the SAA and local National Defense Forces (NDF) units.
Pro-government forces lost two fighters, Imad Khalaf Salim and Sharif Saleh Ottoman, while they were repelling the attack. On the other hand, ISIS units sustained serious losses.
After repelling the attack, several units of the NDF were deployed along the M20 highway in order to boost western Deir Ezzor defenses. More measures will likely be taken in the upcoming few days.
