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On June 18, two Iranian-backed fighters were killed and eight others were wounded in an attack by ISIS cells in the eastern Syrian governorate of Deir Ezzor.
The attack, which took place in the early morning, targeted several positions manned by Iranian-backed forces in the al-Jwif area near the town of al-Mayadin, one the largest urban centers in the southern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
Iranian-backed forces, mostly made of Syrian and Iraqi fighters, maintain a strong presence in southern Deir Ezzor, where they operate against ISIS and guard the Syrian-Iraqi border.
The attack in Deir Ezzor was most likely launched from the Homs desert, the main stronghold of ISIS cells in central Syria. The vast desert lays between eastern Homs and western Deir Ezzor.
Earlier this week, the terrorists attacked three trucks moving supplies and equipment for Syrian government forces and their allies in the eastern countryside of Hama.
These attacks didn’t go unpunished. On June 18, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out more than 15 airstrikes on ISIS hideouts in central Syria, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The results of the airstrikes are yet to be revealed.
The recent ISIS attack in central Syria caused some losses. However, the terrorist group’s threat is much smaller than what it was just a year ago.
