Syrian desert | Regime officer killed in IED attack, and Russian jets shower ISIS positions with nearly 70 strikes in 24 hours
Syrian Observatory activists have documented the death of a captain of the regime-backed 25th Division, after a military vehicle was targeted by an IED planted earlier by ISIS on the road to Athariyah in the eastern countryside of Hama.
On the other hand, regime forces and loyalists continue searching for ISIS cells in several areas of the Syrian desert, along with frequent patrols for securing key highways.
Meanwhile, Russian jets have intensified their strikes, targeting positions in the deserts of Al-Raqqah, Hama and Homs with nearly 70 airstrikes since last night.
On January 5, SOHR activists monitored Russian fighter jets executing more than 20 airstrikes in the early hours of Tuesday morning, targeting positions of ISIS cells near Faydat Ibn Mouwene’ in al-Mayadeen desert in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
A day earlier, SOHR activists said that regime forces continued combing operations in the Syrian desert, from east Hama countryside to Al-Raqqah and Deir Ezzor provinces, amid fierce clashes with ISIS.
On Sunday, reliable SOHR sources confirmed that ISIS members attacked a bus and several other cars on Damascus-Al-Raqqah highway, near Wadi Al-Ozayb area, while they were coming from Damascus. The attack resulted in the death of 12 regime soldiers and three civilians, including a little girl, as well as the injury of more than 16 others, including four civilians.