ISIS kidnaps government soldiers in Syria’s Homs
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – The Islamic State (ISIS) kidnaped on Monday five soldiers of the Syrian government forces in the desert of Homs, central Syria.
“ISIS sleeper cells ambushed and kidnapped five soldiers of the Division 18 of the government forces near the town of al-Sukhnah, east of Homs,” a military source of the government forces said.
“The ISIS militants set fire to the military vehicle that was carrying the soldiers and erected a banner of the group near it, to take the soldiers to an unknown destination,” the source told North Press.
The source pointed out that the government forces brought in military reinforcements to the area to pursue the attackers and search for their militants but in vain.
The Syrian Desert covers nearly half of the area of Syria, and is distributed over the governorates of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Rif Dimashq, Suwayda and Palmyra.
Iranian-backed militias and the government forces control large areas of the Syrian Desert and the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, which constitutes a source of concern as it witnesses intensive operations by the ISIS sleeper cells.