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The ISIS-linked news agency, Amaq, announced on April 17 that the terrorist group’s fighters had successfully attacked a position of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) near the town of al-Kawm in the eastern Homs countryside.
According to the terrorist group’s claims, more than 15 Syrian service members, including 4 officers, were killed in the attack. ISIS fighters also destroyed 2 military trucks and captured two others.
The attack was likely launched from the Homs desert, where hundreds of ISIS fighters and commanders are reportedly hiding. Some of these terrorists arrived in the area recently after fleeing the Middle Euphrates River Valley.
A day earlier, the SAA and the National Defense Forces (NDF) launched a large-scale combing operation around the Homs desert. The operation has apparently failed to prevent ISIS from launching new attacks.
The threat from the remaining ISIS fighters in the Homs desert will likely continue to grow until the SAA and its allies launch a military operation there. Local observers believe that this option is not possible now due to a high level of tensions around the militant-held are of Idlib.
