After more than 800 days for their loss of al-Sukhnah city… the regime forces regain control by firearm the last city if ISIS in Homs province
Russian warplanes support the operations of regaining control of al-Sukhnah and the Syrian desert to control gas and oil fields
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights obtained information from several reliable sources, who reported that the “Islamic State” organization carried out successive withdrawals from the Sukhnah city, which used to be considered the last city controlled by the organization in Homs province, where the cross-sources of the Syrian Observatory confirmed that the majority of the members had withdrawn from the city, after the regime forces supported by the gunmen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities; were able in less than 24 hours from now to reach the outskirts the city, the withdrawals of members of the “Islamic State” organization came after the city has become fallen by firearm, after more than 50 days of intensifying the shelling on the city, where the regime had lost the city in the first half of 2015, as a result of a violent attack by the organization on the city and on large parts of Palmyra Desert and Palmyra City.
And with regime forces’ control military and humanly in the coming hours; a distance less than 40 km will be separating between their forces on the administrative border from the side of Al-Raqqah, and between the north of Sukhnah city, to carry out a full besiege operation on the “Islamic State” organization in thousands of kilometers west of this besieging line until Shaer area and the eastern countryside of Hama, which will put the organization in front of two options, either fight to the end or carrying out massive retreat of thousands of kilometers towards Deir Ezzor, before regime forces’ full besiege, which is being carried out with aerial support by the Russian and regime’s warplanes, and also the support of the pro-regime gunmen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published on Thursday the 27th July of 2017, that the regime forces in the eastern desert of Homs were able to achieve a strategic advancement, where the regime forces were able to reach the outskirts of al-Sukhnah city; the last city controlled by the “Islamic State” organization in Homs province, which is considered as regime forces’ gate to enter from a new area towards Deir Ezzor province, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that if the regime forces were able to take control of the city of Al-Sukhnah, then about 40 kilometers will be separating them from reaching their forces who are coming from the southern countryside of Al-Raqqah, who entered the administrative border of Homs coming from Al-Raqqah for the first time on the 14th of July 2017, where they managed to control oil fields and wells in the far north-east of Homs.
Also the regime forces carried out during the past few weeks a number of simultaneous military operations that enabled them to regain control over thousands of square kilometers that used to be controlled by ISIS. Such operations also enabled them to reach important and strategic strongholds of ISIS, mainly in the desert extending from the southern countryside of Al-Raqqah to the border between Deir Ezzor and Homs, and from the border between Homs and Iraq till the eastern countryside of Hama. The regime forces managed to make such advancement through the support of their allied militiamen, of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, tribal forces that have been armed and trained by the Russians, and the Russian warplanes and helicopters. In fact, it is through such an aerial and artillery coverage that Russia would be able to regain control over the remaining ISIS-controlled areas which contain gas and oil fields.
The regime forces started in last June their escalation on Al-Sukhnah area, which is about 60 km northeast of Palmyra town, the control over which was regained by the regime forces few weeks ago. Warplanes have been shelling the area on a daily basis, causing damages to the civilians’ property and the fall of injuries. Such an escalation and the daily airstrikes on the city and the villages and highlands surrounding it followed the failure of the regime forces, who are about 40 km southwest of the city, to make a new advancement and thus reach the city they have been striving to control. The SOHR published then that in case the regime forces managed to regain control over Al-Sukhnah city in the eastern countryside of Homs, they would be able to advance towards the administrative border between the Syrian Desert and Deir Ezzor Province and thus execute a military operation in the Province which is mostly controlled by ISIS. It should be noted that Al-Sukhnah city is about 50 km away from that border.