Illustrative image
For the first time ever, ISIS has announced an attack by its sleeper cells on the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the southern governorate of Daraa.
The terrorist group’s news agency, Amaq, said in a press release on June 4 that a vehicle of the army was targeted on the road between the towns of Naamer and al-Khirbet in northern Daraa with two improvised-explosive devices (IEDs).
According to Amaq, three service members of the SAA were killed in the attack. However, these claims have not been confirmed yet.
While this was the first attack by ISIS cells in Daraa, the terrorist group had controlled a large part of the governorate’s western countryside through a proxy known as the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army.
Last year, the SAA and former Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters neutralized the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army in a large-scale operation that lasted for 10 days.
This cooperation between the SAA and the locals will likely hinder ISIS efforts to regain any influence in southern Syria. Many terrorists were neutralized by the army in the last few months as a result of this cooperation.
