About 100 of the regime forces and the “Islamic State” organization are killed in 6 days of desert battles from the far east of Homs to Salamiyah countryside
The clashes continue between the regime forces supported by gunmen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against members of the “Islamic State” organization in the area extending from Deir Ezzor administrative border with Homs until the eastern countryside of Salamiyah, in a continuation by the regime forces for their military operation that target to ending the existence of the “Islamic State” organization in the provinces of Hama and Homs, while the clashes were accompanied by explosions, exchange of shelling, and bombing by the Russian warplanes as well as regime’s warplanes, and heavy shelling by the regime forces on organization’s sites and controlled areas in Homs and Hama, which killed more members of both parties, where the Syrian Observatory has documented since the 17th of July 2017 the date of end of existence of the “Islamic State” organization in the western half of the southern countryside of Al-Raqqah and in the western countryside of Al-Raqqah, until today the 22nd of July 2017 the death of at least 57 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, including 6 officers at least, while it rose to at least 37, the number of members of the “Islamic State” organization who were killed in the same period.
The regime forces were able on the 17th of July 2017 to achieve an important advancement and control oil fields in the eastern half of the southern countryside of Al-Raqqah, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that this important advancement allowed the regime forces to reach the outskirts of the strategic mountain of al-Bashri, which is a rugged-terrain mountain and one of the most important strongholds of the “Islamic State” organization in Syria, where this mountain witnessed the visit of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi -the leader of the “Islamic State” organization- to meet with military and security commanders of the organization earlier, the mountain is extending within the administrative borders of 3 provinces and is one of the important centers of which the organization has been depending on in the supply operations and securing commanders.
This advancement comes hours after the important advancement achieved by the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian, Iranian Iraqi and Lebanese nationalities; in the southern and southwestern countryside of Al-Raqqah, during which the regime forces were able to end the presence of the “Islamic State” organization in the western half of the southern countryside of Al-Raqqah and in the western countryside of Al-Raqqah, also the regime forces have recovered hundreds of kilometers from the “Islamic State” organization in the past 72 hours, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published that the regime forces, with intensive shelling on the organization’s positions, managed to achieve an important advancement and control oilfields in the southern countryside of al-Raqqa near the administrative border of al-Raqqa with Homs, while the members of the organization withdrew from other oilfields west of the advancement area, and the regime forces started to cleanse the area of which the organization has withdrawn. With this advancement, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the end of the presence of the “Islamic State” organization in the western and southwestern countryside of al-Raqqa city, and the “Islamic state” organization only controls an area extending from the south of al-Kasrat area, to the SDF-held line adjacent to the Euphrates River to the east of al-Resafa and to the administrative borders of Homs and the administrative borders with Deir Ezzor, in addition to parts of al-Raqqa city.