Suspected ISIS sleeper cells attack IRGC vehicle in Syrian Desert
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – Suspected Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells targeted on Tuesday a military vehicle of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Syrian Desert.
A security source in the IRGC told North Press that ISIS militants attacked with a rocket and machine guns an IRGC military vehicle and one of their guard posts in the al-Bayarat area near the city of Palmyra in the east of Homs, central Syria.
The Syrian Desert covers nearly half of Syria as it stretches across the governorates of Hama, Homs, Raqqa, Aleppo, and Deir ez-Zor.
Large areas of the Syrian Desert are controlled by Iranian-backed militias and the Syrian government forces, which frequently witness intensive operations and attacks, mostly carried out by ISIS sleeper cells.
The source added that the vehicle was loaded with various weapons and ammunition meant to be distributed to IRGC military posts surrounding Palmyra.
According to the source, the attack resulted in the explosion and complete destruction of the vehicle, the injury of a guard, in addition to significant material damage to the post.
He further explained that the government forces and Iranian-backed militias had been conducting combing operations in the Syrian Desert for the past two days to pursue ISIS sleeper cells.