Syrian army and allies try to dislodge Islamic State from central country
A flag of the Islamic State organization on a road (illustrative image).
REUTERS / Stringer
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2 min
Heavy fighting is taking place in the Badia Desert in central Syria between the government army and the Islamic State group.
The Russian air force entered into action to support the troops in Damascus.
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With our correspondent in Beirut,
Paul Khalifeh
The Syrian army and its allies have launched a vast search operation in the Badia Desert which stretches from the central provinces of Hama and Homs to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, to flush out the cells of the Islamic State group active in this vast territory.
Large reinforcements were routed around Hama the day after a deadly attack blamed on the jihadists on a bus on Monday which left 15 dead, including 12 soldiers.
Already on December 30, an attack by
the Islamic State group
on a bus on the road between Palmyra and Deir Ezzor had killed around 30 soldiers.
This renewed jihadist activity in the central desert threatens the main axes of communication and military supply routes between the provinces under government control.
A hundred Russian aviation raids
The Syrian army and its allies have launched simultaneous operations east and west of the central desert, with the aim of dispersing the jihadists, whose number is estimated at several thousand.
The Syrian troops on the ground are supported by the Russian air force, which has carried out more than a hundred raids in the last 48 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Since March 2019, the Syrian army has lost 1,300 men and the jihadists 600 fighters on these forgotten fronts of the Syrian war
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Syria
Terrorism