ISIS captures seven members of Syria government forces in Badia
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – On Thursday, ISIS managed to capture seven members of Syrian government forces, including an officer, in the Sukhna desert, east Syria.
“Unidentified gunmen wearing uniforms of the government forces set up a mock checkpoint on the main road on the outskirts of the Sukhna desert and managed to capture seven members, including a lieutenant colonel, and took their Toyota car, weapons and ammunition they had,” a military source from the government forces told North Press.
“The gunmen were raising the Syrian flag at the checkpoint and driving government cars. After capturing the officer and the members, they burnt the Syrian flags later, raised the banner of ISIS and fled towards the depths of the desert,” the source, who declined to be named, added.
The car had left Palmyra to Sukhna on a reconnaissance tour, according to the same source.
The government forces and the loyal factions control large areas of the Syrian Badia, which have recently witnessed violent clashes with ISIS.
Areas controlled by the government forces and Iranian-backed militias have recently been witnessing battles with ISIS in the desert and eastern Syria’s areas.
Yesterday, the first lieutenant in the government forces, Hazem Fakhour, from the Syrian city of Tartus, was killed in an armed clash with ISIS in the southern desert of Deir ez-Zor.
The Iranian-backed factions run broad-scale swaths in the Syria’s eastern Badia, which has recently witnessed several fierce clashes with ISIS.
The Iranian-backed factions have controlled the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, since the expulsion of ISIS, in early 2017.