Battle for the desert: Syrian Army braces for new wave of ISIS attacks

According to the source, the Syrian Arab Army’s most recent military operation in western Deir Ezzor was successful, but the offensive was limited to a specific area of the desert.

The source said the Islamic State has several more hideouts and bases throughout the Badiya Al-Sham region, which they quickly proved a day after the Syrian Army launched their western Deir Ezzor operation.

With the Syrian military and Jerusalem Brigade (Liwaa Al-Quds) concentrated in western Deir Ezzor, the Islamic State took the opportunity to conduct ambushes along the main highway between the administrative capitals of Deir Ezzor and Homs.

The ambush targeted a bus carrying several Syrian Army soldiers; it would result in the death of four soldiers and the hospitalization of eleven more.

Despite losing their Syrian de-facto capitals – Raqqa, Mayadeen, Baghouz – the Islamic State has managed to establish a large number of cells across central and eastern Syria, which has made it difficult for the Syrian Army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to eliminate the terrorist group.