ISIS resurgence | Cells kill nearly 835 regime soldiers and loyal militiamen, as ISIS regroups its members and regains strength
Being present in an area of some 4,000 square kilometres in the Syrian desert, ISIS is seeking to confirm its influence through successive attacks on regime forces and their Syrian and non-Syrian proxy militias, sending direct messages that it is still strong enough to combat regime forces and loyalists. It is worth noting that ISIS is still present in scattered areas in the Syrian desert, including the area from Jabal Abu Rajmayn area in north-eastern Palmyra to Deir Ezzor desert and western countryside, Al-Sukhnah desert and an area to the north of the administrative border of Al-Suwaidaa province.
ISIS is carrying out intensive and almost-daily operations in the desert, including detonations, ambushes, attacks and kidnappings, while most of these operations were concentrated in Aleppo-Hama-Al-Raqqha triangle.
These intensive operations were met by “timid” security campaigns by regime forces and loyal militias, despite the considerable support by Russia through daily airstrikes on ISIS positions. However, regime forces and allies’ efforts did not hinder ISIS growing activities.
Reliable sources have informed the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the group is gaining new strength, after reuniting and regrouping its cells who were scattered in the desert, SDF-held areas, and Turkish-backed areas and inside Turkish territory, after the Counter-ISIS International Coalition announced the elimination of the “Islamic State.”
Although the escalation of ISIS’ activities in the Syrian desert began in the spring of 2019, its actual resurgence was in 2020 with large and sporadic attacks. However, its largest operations and activities began within the Aleppo-Hama-Raqqah triangle in the spring of last year.
According to SOHR statistics, ISIS managed to kill 819 regime soldiers and loyal militiamen in 2020, including 108 Iranian-backed non-Syrian militiamen, in ambushes, attacks, shelling and clashes in the Syrian desert. Also, ISIS lost 507 fighters in clashes and airstrikes by Russian and regime fighter jets in the same period.
Last year, the group carried out a well-planned ambush, targeting three buses carrying pro-regime militiamen and soldiers of the 4th Division in al-Shula desert on Homs-Deir ez-Zor road, which claimed the lives of 39 regime-backed militiamen and injured others.
The group initiated the new year with another ambush, as ISIS members attacked yesterday a bus, several cars and fuel tanks on Damascus-Al-Raqqah highway, near Wadi Al-Ozayb area, killing 12 members of the regime forces and loyal militiamen, in addition to three civilians, including a child.
The Syrian Observatory points out that it had already warned, well before “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” declared itself as “Caliphate State” in Syria and Iraq, that this organization did intend to work for the Syrian people and serve their interest, but rather ISIS continued to kill innocent Syrians, who had been suffering the brutality of war and violence and became displaced.
Furthermore, the “Islamic State” recruited children in the so-called “cubs of the caliphate”, and controlled the wealth and resources of Syrian people and harnessed them to build a “caliphate”, and traded openly back and forth with one of Syria’s neighbouring country.