Five pro-regime fighters were killed on Thursday (December 15th) in an attack by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria’s central Hama province. This report brings to 21 the number of Syrian soldiers killed by the jihadists in less than two weeks.
With our correspondent in the region, Paul Khalifeh
Dozens of ground offensives launched by the Syrian army and its allies and hundreds of air raids carried out by Russian aircraft have failed to reduce the operational capabilities of the Islamic State group in the central Syrian desert.
Since the beginning of December, the jihadists have markedly increased their attacks against government troops, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions for stealthy movements in the desert and hampering aviation interventions.
The NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) has counted seven major attacks launched by the jihadists since the beginning of December, in a vast territory ranging from the central regions of Hama and Homs, to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, passing through Raqqa to the north and Soueida to the south.
The fighters of the IS group went so far as to occupy a locality east of Homs for more than a day, and managed to cut the highway linking Damascus to Deir Ezzor for hours.
At the beginning of December, the Syrian army lost contact with a patrol in the east of the country. Its members are missing.
The jihadists favor ambushes against convoys and patrols which they attack after detonating IEDs, and assaults against remote positions.
► Listen again: War in Syria: where are we?