Escalating ISIS activity | Dozens of ISIS fighters gather openly in area controlled by Iranian-backed militias and regime forces in Palmyra desert for unknown reasons

SOHR activists have reported that ISIS members have gathered during the last hours, at a valley near “Al-Qaryah Al-Namozajyah” in Jabal Al-Amor in Palmyra in the eastern desert of Homs which is under the contol of Iranian-backed militias and regime forces.

According to Syrian Observatory sources, there are a dozen of ISIS members gathered in an area which is at least 30 kilometres from Palmyra and is located north of Palmyra.

Meanwhile, the real reasons behind the public gathering of ISIS members remain unknown.

It is worth noting that the Civilians in that area have also displaced, accompanied by their livestock, to Al-Farqalas area for fear of military operations or aerial bombardment following the significant increase in the activity of ISIS

On May 9, SOHR activists reported that ISIS members roamed in two cars and several motorbikes with ISIS flags being installed on them near Wady Al-Abyad, nearly 17 kilometres to the north-west of Palmyra city in east Homs countryside in the centre of Syria near Al-Amor Mountain.

This is the first parade of its kind by ISIS in this area since regime forces and Iranian-backed militias controlled the area in March 2017, after violent battles with ISIS. This development marked a significant increase in the activity of ISIS, where ISIS members used to appear only in Palmyra desert to execute attacks on separate occasions.