Casualties reported in clashes between government, ISIS in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – An armed attack claimed the lives of three soldiers of Syrian government forces and a militant of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) in a town east of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria, on Friday at night.
A military source of a military engineering squad of the government forces in the town of Dewier, 70 kilometers east of Deir ez-Zor, said a group of ISIS infiltrated the military engineering post, leading to clashes between the two parties for over half an hour.
Three government soldiers, including a sergeant, and a militant dressed in the ISIS style, who did not bear any documentations, were killed in the clashes, according to the source.
It added that the remainder infiltrators managed to flee.
Two days ago, the government forces along the pro-Iranian militias initiated a combing campaign in Deir ez-Zor desert after the ISIS announced it would intensify operations against the areas held by the government and those of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
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.