Regime forces “humanly” control about 20% of al-Sukhnah city 5 days after controlling the city by firearm
The regime forces continue their targeting on the city of al-Sukhnah in the eastern desert of Homs, which is the last city controlled by the “Islamic State” organization in the province of Homs, where the regime forces are trying to advance in the area 5 days after firearm control on the city by the regime forces and their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, backed by aerial and artillery shelling was condemned by intensive air and artillery bombardment by the regime forces and Russian and regime’s warplanes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the regime forces were able to achieve military and human progress and controlled about 20% of the area of the city, amid continued advancement of their forces, to impose full human control over the last city controlled by the organization in the province of Homs, amid the sound of explosions in the city, as a result of the continued shelling and combat operations in the city and its vicinity and desert.
And SOHR published that the regime forces are still in their place, without being able to enter the city, although the city has fallen by firearm on the 28th of July 2017, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that about 130 fighters of the “Islamic State” organization including 12 members at least of Arab nationalities –including two leaders– are still blocking the process of military and humanly controlling the city by the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, which is considered the last city controlled by the “Islamic State” organization in Homs province, and it used to be the main stronghold of the organization since its control of it in the first half of 2015, after a fierce attack on the city and on large parts of Palmyra city and Palmyra Desert.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also monitored an attempt by the regime forces supported by the loyalist gunmen to achieve advancement and turnaround with a cover of intense shelling, to reach the road linking Palmyra and Sukhnah.
The SOHR also published that in case the regime forces advanced into Al-Sukhnah city, they would be less than 40 km away from the administrative border between Al-Raqqah and the north of Al-Sukhnah to execute the full encirclement operation of ISIS over an area of thousands of kilometers west of the encirclement line set till Sha’er area and the eastern countryside of Hama. This would only leave ISIS with two choices: either to fight till the end or to carry out another broad withdrawal operation of thousands of Kilometers towards Deir Ezzor before the regime forces manage to fully encircle them under aerial coverage by the Russian and the regime’ warplanes and with the support of their allied militiamen, of Syrian and non-Syrian militiamen.
The SOHR published yesterday that it documented during the last 24 hours the death of at least 17 members of the regime forces, including an officer, in addition to the death of at least 28 ISIS members over the same period of time. Thus, the fatalities documented by SOHR since the 17th of July, the date in which the regime forces ended the presence of ISIS in the western part of the southern countryside of Al-Raqqah, until today, the 31st of July, rose to a total of 358 in addition to the injury of tens of others with varied degrees of severity. The number of fatalities among the regime forces and their allied militiamen, of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, rose to 156 at least, including at least 24 officers, who were killed as a result of bombings, shelling and in clashes with ISIS. On the other hand, the number of ISIS members and field commanders who were killed in aerial raids, intensive artillery and rocket shelling and in clashes with the regime forces and their allied militiamen rose to 202 at least