Death toll rise in clashes between ISIS, local gunmen in Syria’s Daraa
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Twenty people, most of them are from the Islamic State Organization (ISIS), have been killed since Friday in the ongoing clashes between ISIS militants and Russian-backed local gunmen in the town of Jasim, north of Daraa Governorate.
Violent clashes took place on Monday in the fourth day in a row between ISIS militants and local gunmen in the vicinity of a house at the Northern neighborhood in the town of Jasim. A big explosion was heard as well.
A local source told North Press that one of ISIS militants blew up himself. After that, the area witnessed an uneasy calm.
Three bodies were found in the house which the center of the clashes, the source said.
By adding the three bodies, the number of ISIS casualties have increased to 20 during the clashes which took off on Friday.
Meanwhile, Tanks of the Syrian government forces, stationed north of the town of Jasim, targeted the outskirts of the town with multiple shells, without knowing their aims or the result of the shelling, according to what local sources mentioned.
On Sunday, Hussein Al-Rifai, Secretary of Baath party branch in Daraa, told the semi-official Al-Watan newspaper that the security operation in the town of Jasim is ongoing, and that 17 ISIS militants have been killed so far.
Al-Rifai noted that among the dead are three leaders of foreign nationalities.
Well-informed sources said that the government forces and security services are absent from the ongoing clashes in the town.
On Saturday, 10 ISIS militants were killed in the clashes in one of the farms in the Western neighborhood in the town.
On Friday, an Iraqi ISIS leader named Abdulrahman al-Iraqi was killed, along with six militants of the organization.
Other ISIS leaders who have been killed are Abu Hamza al-Shami and Ayham Faisal al-Halaqi.
The number of casualties among the local gunmen is estimated to be more than six so far.
Meanwhile, the curfew continues in the town, as the local gunmen, since the Friday morning, called through loudspeakers and mosques the residents not to leave their homes, announcing their pursuit of the organization’s cells.
In addition, the Directorate of Education of the Syrian government suspended the town’s schools until further notice.