ISIS takes the control of Al-Qaryatayn city and a town and a mountain in the vicinity of Al-Sukhnah and carries out new attacks in the Syrian Desert

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned from a number of reliable sources that, the “Islamic State” organization managed to impose its control on Al-Qaryatayn city in the south-eastern countryside of Homs, which restored by the regime forces 6 months ago, after groups of the organization managed to infiltrate into the city and surprise the regime forces in there, then it managed to take the control after clashes against the members of the regime, while violent clashes are taking place between ISIS against the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, in areas in Al-Sukhnah and Palmyra deserts, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that groups of the organization managed to impose their control on Al-Taybah town and Al-Dahik Mountain in the northern desert of Al-Sukhnah, while the fighting is still continuing in areas in the east of Al-Sukhnah city and near the third station and Al-Heel Oil Field and the vicinity of Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi area, where the regime forces seek to retake the control of areas they lost, while the organization aims to advance in more areas by carrying out successive attacks that exhausted the regime forces and forced them to bring reinforcement to the desert.

These violent clashes are accompanied by violent intensive shelling by the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them, which are trying to repel the violent attack of the organization, which renewed today the 1st of October 2017, 72 hours after the first counter attack by the organization on the area, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored during the past two days the death and the injury hundreds of members in the ranks of the both parties in this violent fighting, in which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the death of 128 members at least of the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them, including 50 members at least of non-Syrian nationalities including 20 members at least of the Lebanese Hezbollah, of who where killed during about 48 hours of the counter attacks by the organization on the 28th and the 29th of September 2017, in addition to the death of 90 members at least of ISIS of who were killed by blowing themselves up by using suicidal belts and by booby trapped vehicles and in artillery and rocket shelling and raids and clashes against the regime forces in the areas where they attacked, where the organization managed to recover Al-Shawla, Kabajeb and the mountain which is overlooking on Al-Sukhnah and other positions and areas where the regime forces managed to advance into, in the areas extended from the west of Deir Ezzor to the south-eastern countryside of Homs, before the regime forces returned to recover most of the areas they lost, while many areas are still witnessing clashes of hit-and-run between the both parties.

It is noteworthy that 10th of September 2017, the regime forces managed to open the main road coming from Damascus, and the operation of lifting the siege was carried out on 3 stages the first was to lift the siege on the Brigade 137, then lifting the siege of Deir Ezzor Military Airport and the bloc of neighborhoods related to it, and the third stage was to reach the western entrance of Deir Ezzor city at the area of Panorama area after taking the control of Damascus – Deir Ezzor road.