Syria, Russia confront ISIS cells in Syrian desert
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has been heavily deployed in the country’s central and eastern Badia desert regions, coinciding with Russian airstrikes on ISIS positions in the area.
“The Syrian army pushed large military reinforcements to several axes in the eastern countryside of the Homs governorate and the Sukhna desert, north of the 55-km area surrounding the illegal base of the US army in the Al-Tanf area,” a Sputnik correspondent reported on 6 December.
The correspondent said that the Syrian army is looking to carry out search operations in the area, in light of a recent increase in hit-and-run attacks carried out by ISIS cells, which “coincides with the increase in attacks targeting illegal American bases.”
“Russian reconnaissance aircraft began activity in the area of expected operations, with the aim of completing the collection of ISIS terrorist organization targets from headquarters and sites in the area between the Homs and Deir Ezzor deserts,” he added.
He also said that Russian airstrikes proceeded to destroy 18 ISIS hideouts, killing about 40 militants.
According to the Sputnik correspondent, “American forces stationed at Al-Tanf base recently trained hundreds of militants in a camp located south of a 55-kilometer area.”
The 55-kilometer area refers to the surroundings of the US Al-Tanf base in eastern Syria, which is geographically linked to the Badia desert regions.
“Information confirms that these groups were mostly composed of militants who had previously fought in the ranks of ISIS, some of whom were prisoners with the allied forces of the US Army in eastern Syria.”
Moscow and the Syrian government have repeatedly accused US occupation forces in Al-Tanf of providing logistical support to ISIS cells in the Syrian desert, who, over the past year, have killed hundreds of civilians and security personnel.
The Syrian army, in coordination with Russia, has also been carrying out airstrikes against the northern Idlib governorate, where Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other extremist groups are based.
Operations in Idlib escalated significantly on 5 October following a drone attack by Idlib-based extremists on a Syrian military college in Homs, which killed dozens.
Source » thecradle.co
