Almost 100 ISIL (ISIS) Fighters Killed in As-Sweida 48 Hours

ISIS offensive in northwest As-Sweida has taken a turn for the worst, as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and their allies from the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) have proven unwilling to yield any ground to the Islamist militants attacking their positions.

On Saturday, ISIS launched an assault on Tal Al-Khaldiyeh in northwest As-Sweida, attacking from the western perimeter of the hill; however, the ISIS militants were confronted by a well-armed NDF, who later repelled the attack with the help of the SAA, PLA, and Jaysh Al-Muwahiddeen (Durzi militia).

According to a military source, 29 militants from ISIS were killed during their attack on Tal Al-Khaldiyeh, including Thabit Hussein Moussa (Lebanese), Nasser Yousif Al-Bablawi (Lebanese), ‘Ali Mohannad Al-Shirri (Lebanese), Ghassan ‘Abdel-Rahman Balouta (Syrian from Idlib), Mohammad Khaled ‘Abdullah (Kuwaiti), Mohammad Bassam Al-Ghareeb (Saudi), Anas Hussein Abu Layla (Syrian from Deir Ezzor), and Bashir Radwan Al-Hosni (Syrian from Deir Ezzor).

As a result of their losses at Tal Al-Khaldiyeh, ISIS has lost a total of 97 militants in the last 48 hours; this includes the 68 ISIS fighters killed on Friday at Khalkhalah Airbase.

ISIS’ offensive at As-Sweida has not produced the results they expected – they are unable to advance much more than a few kilometers into the province due to the fierce resistance from the civilian populous and their militias.