After the withdrawal of the “Islamic State” organization from it, the regime forces continue sweeping al-Qaryatayn city after restoring it

Homs province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the regime forces supported by gunmen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities continue the sweep operations in al-Qaryatayn city, which is about 70 km southeast of Homs city, of which the regime forces were able to control after the withdrawal of members of the “Islamic State” organization and the surrender of a small group of them, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the withdrawal of about 200 members towards the desert, where the Syrian Observatory had been published hours ago that the regime forces backed by their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities managed to control most of the city of Al-Qaryatayn located about 70 km southeast of Homs, and the control came after the military operation launched by the regime forces in the early hours of morning of the 21st of October 2017, where the regime forces are still combing the areas they controlled in the city, in conjunction with clashes between the regime forces and the members of ISIS remaining the city and refusing to withdraw, as the SOHR received information from several cross sources that a passage was opened for members of ISIS to leave the city towards the organization-held areas in the Syrian desert last night.

The regime forces had failed earlier to regain control of the city during the past 20 days, since it was controlled by the “Islamic State” organization on the 1st of October 2017, after a sudden infiltration operation carried out deep in regime forces’ controlled areas in the southeastern desert of Homs, also the surroundings of the city has witnessed during the past few days the advancement of the regime forces and regaining control of highlands they lost in the vicinity of al-Qaryatayn and the surrounding hills, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday night that an officer with the rank of a colonel who is a commander of a battalion of the Division-11 Tanks in the regime forces, with other 3 members of the regime forces, by an explosion of a booby trapped vehicle carried out by the “Islamic State” organization, and targeted a position of the regime forces in the outskirts of the city, the explosion also caused the fall of a number of wounded, some of them have seriously injured, which may increase the death toll.