After besieging the eastern countryside of Hama, the regime forces advance in hills and positions of the “Islamic State” organization east of Salamiyah city

Hama province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: The violent fighting is still ongoing between the regime forces and their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian against members of the “Islamic State” organization in the eastern countryside of Salamiyah city. The clashes are taking place in the areas of Um Harteen and Dakila, which are controlled by the “Islamic State” organization near Uqayribat Township, as the regime forces continue their attack since Friday morning, in which they managed to advance in at least Taltin and other areas controlled by the organization near Dakila and Um Haratin. The clashes are accompanied by the continued shelling of the regime forces, amid targeting by the organization on positions in the regime-held areas and contact lines between them, amid confirmed information about human losses in the ranks of both parties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published hours ago that the regime forces, after advancing within the past 24 hours in areas south of Ithriyah and going deep into the borders of Hama with Homs province, near Sha’er Mountain in the eastern desert of Homs, managed to achieve a new strategic advancement and managed to meet their forces coming from Sha’er Mountain, and hence the regime forces were able to impose the first siege on the “Islamic State” organization in the Syrian Desert, and encircled about an area of 3 thousand kilometer square controlled by the organization that includes about 50 village and several oil and gas fields and wells, this area is extending from the fronts of Jub al-Jarrah and al-Shomariyyeh Mountain, which is about 50 km square away from Homs city to the fronts of the countryside of the western and northwest countryside of Salamiyah and Sha’er Mountain front. This encirclement comes within the greatest encirclement the regime forces are trying to implement which would besiege the organization in area of 7800 controlled by the organization in the Syrian desert in the provinces of Homs and Hama, and if the regime forces managed to advance in an area of about 25 km which is the remaining distance between their forces coming from al-Kom area in the far northeast of Homs province, and the forces stationed in the north of al-Sukhnah.