Sophie Mangal |
Syrian Arab Army (SAA) continues the offensive from eastern Homs to the city of Deir ez-Zor. According to the military correspondents of Inside Syria Media Center, some progress has been made in certain sectors of the front.
As of June 11, the Government troops liberated the strategically important settlement to the south of Palmyra. Servicemen of the 5th Army Corps liberated more than 2 km of the road near the strategic desert city of Arak (also spelled Urak or Araq; it is a village in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate situated on an oasis in the Syrian Desert along the road to Palmyra). A control is established over a number of heights that ensure the safety of the Arak Gas Fields to the west of the city. At the moment, SAA is about 4 km from Arak.
On June 9, a convoy of militants, including several armored vehicles, was destroyed using Syrian AF near Al-Suqqari village to the south of Palmyra. ISIS forces were forced to retreat from this region.
At the same time, the terrorists are trying to transfer reinforcements, including those from the north-east, from the area of Raqqa, in order to halt the advance of the Syrian Arab Army. The opportunity to transfer reserves and reinforcements provided by the Western coalition and its Kurdish partners to ISIS terrorists significantly challenges operating environment in the east of Syria.
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To destroy the militants the aviation of allies is actively used by the official Damascus. On June 5, for example, about 20 militants including Abu Al-Bakr Al-Karjatain, IS field commander, were killed near a mount to the east of Palmyra.
In addition, on June 9, a convoy of militants, including several armored vehicles, was destroyed using Syrian AF near Al-Suqqari village to the south of Palmyra. ISIS forces were forced to retreat from this region.
In the coming weeks, Government army plans to organize a large-scale offensive in the province of Deir ez-Zor. To achieve this goal, the command of the Armed Forces has already moved up the reserves and achieved a twofold superiority in manpower and materiel. It is planned to use actively the aviation and the artillery.
Meanwhile, the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces sais, the liberation of vast territories in Badiyat ash-Sham (Syrian Desert) from ISIS, as well as the arrival of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies at the Syrian-Iraqi border will become a strategic turning point in the fight against terrorism. The success proves the effectiveness of SAA in countering the global terrorist threat to international peace and security.
The ring is shrinking around the remnants of terrorist groups and their supply lines are interrupted in many directions.
Inside Syria Media Center received a copy of the General Command’s statement where is noticed that the army units in cooperation with the Allied forces completed on Friday evening the first stage of the military operations in the Syrian Badiyat, reaching the border with Iraq to the northeast of Al-Tanf (one of 3 official border crossings between Syria and Iraq).
Success was achieved after taking control of vast territories and strategically important points and positions inside the Badiyat totally over 20 square kilometers since operations first started south and east of Palmyra. Over one hundred ISIS terrorists have been liquidated since the operation began in the south and in the east of Tadmor (Palmyra).
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Coordinated actions resulted in a major turn in the general situation on the fight against terrorism. And well-planned operations provide the launching pad for further progress and for expanding military operations against ISIS both in the Syrian Desert areas and in the Syrian-Iraqi border zone.
The press release also claims that the ring is shrinking around the remnants of terrorist groups and their supply lines are interrupted in many directions. These achievements will allow the Syrian army to defeat terrorism in Syria so that it does not spread through the countries of the world, repeating the tragedy.
In addition, the General Command reaffirm our position that attacks of the US-led international coalition on the positions of the Syrian army and its allies are unacceptable as such actions hamper progress in fighting terrorism.
Sophie Mangal is a freelance writer and a member of the Inside Syria Media Center. After attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a media and journalism major, Mangal monitored the refugee crisis in Europe, drawing parallels between the Syrian conflict and the Balkan problem, and has visited Syria on several occasions. This article was first published at Inside Syria Army Center and is republished with the permission of the author. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.