Along with the fears over the lives of the abductees…28 members at least of the organization are killed in a new round of violent clashes on the border between Rif Dimashq and Al-Suwaidaa
With completing the 3rd week after kidnapping about 30 children and women, from the villages of the eastern countryside of Al-Suwaidaa, by the “Islamic State” organization, and detaining them in ISIS controlled areas, and despite the retreat of the organization and confining its large controlled areas in the southern sector of Al-Suwaidaa Desert, the fears over the fate of the abductees are increasing, igniting the resentment among the citizens even more, amid ignore and unconcern towards the file of the abductees, and the thing that made the matters to worsen and poured oil on the fire, is the calls to consider the abductees as martyrs, which were met by absolute rejection by the families of the abductees, accusing the parties which call for considering the abductees as martyrs, of trying to be Shabiha of the regime and not giving the chance for the organization to put pressure over the regime, which is originally unconcerned to the fate of the abductees, and the continuation of the military operation which has ended the presence of the organization from the entire province of Al-Suwaidaa proves this, and although the negotiations are still underway, but the regime forces has not reached a solution that is supposed to lead to the release of the abductees before they are executed by the organization.
These fears and escalated resentment are coincided with the continued clashes between the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them against members of the “Islamic State” organization, in places in the vicinity of Tal Al-Safa area, in an attempt by the regime forces to push the organization to surrender, through decreasing its scope of control and confining it in narrower area, where the clashes are accompanied by exchange of targeting in the clash areas between the both parties, which resulted in killing more members in the ranks of ISIS members and the regime forces, where the SOHR documented the death of 3 members of the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them, while it rose to at least 28, the number of members of the organization who were killed in the exchange of shelling and clashes.
And the military operations against the “Islamic State” organization in the Syrian Desert have completed its 3rd week in a row, since the deadliest and most violent attack by the organization in al-Suwaidaa Province since the start of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored during the 3 weeks of violent clashes between the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them and the local gunmen, against members of the “Islamic State” organization, in areas in al-Suwaidaa Desert until the Desert of Rif Dimashq, where the regime began its offensive from the villages which were under ISIS attacked in the eastern and northeastern desert of al-Suwaidaa, which are the first inhabited villages adjacent to the “Islamic State” organization’s controlled areas in the Syrian desert, until the desert of Rif Dimashq about 50 km away of the areas of the International Coalition in al-Tanf area.
The clashes varied between hit-and-run, advancement, and retreat, during which the regime forces managed to take control of the entire Province of al-Suwaidaa, and forcing the organization to retreat to Rif Dimashq and confine it in Tlul al-Safa on the administrative borders between both provinces, after that the regime forces started sweeping the entire villages, hills, and caves in the area searching for members of the “Islamic State” organization in al-Suwaidaa Desert, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored in the last hours of Tuesday, the 14th of August 2018, a counterattack by the organization in Rif Dimashq, where ISIS members are attempting to inflict the greatest number of casualties in the ranks of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, also violent clashes took place between both parties which caused more casualties in their ranks, and the clashes were accompanied by intense exchange of targeting between both parties, amid shelling and explosions shook Tlul al-Safa area.
While the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented since the launch of the attack on ISIS and the military operation that came after it; the death of hundreds of people, where the “Islamic State” organization executed and killed on the first day of its attack on the 25th of July 2014, 142 civilians including 38 children, In addition to the killing of 116 people, the majority of whom were of the gunmen villagers who carried the gun to repel the organization’s attack, and a 19-year-old boy was executed by ISIS after being kidnapped along with about 30 others, and a woman died when she was held by ISIS in conditions that still vague so far, and the Syrian Observatory also documented the death of about 21 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, and the killing of more than 47 ISIS members, in the explosions, clashes, shelling, and exchange of targeting.
Distribution of the conflicting powers until the 14th of August 2018:
The regime forces and their allies: 112992 square km (61.1%)
Syria Democratic Forces: 52967 square km (28.6%)
The “Islamic State” organization: 3045 square km (1.6%)
The rebel and Islamic factions: 16175.2 square km (8.7%) distributed as follows:
the “Euphrates Shield” and the “Olive Branch”: 3695 square km (2%)
The rebel and Islamic factions: 8937.2 square km (4.8%)
Factions backed by the US and western countries: 3543 square km (1.9%)
Link of a high resolution map of distributing the military powers on the Syrian territory
