How the Islamic State found a haven in Syrian desert
The Syrian regime and Russian forces are facing a growing threat of the Islamic State, which continues to hold pockets across the desert in central Syria.
The Islamic State (IS) operations against Syrian regime and pro-Iranian targets have recently intensified, causing additional losses among those forces despite the military operation that Russia launched on Aug. 25 against IS in the Syrian desert, known as Badiya, in central Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sept. 7 that IS “carried out separate attacks and set up ambushes in separate areas of Badiya, over the past week. The organization’s operations included bombings, attacks and ambushes, and were concentrated in al-Shula area west of Deir ez-Zor, the desert of Boukamal to the east of Deir ez-Zor, the Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadin road, the Hamima-third station road toward the city of Palmyra in the eastern countryside of Homs, the Rusafa area in the countryside of Raqqa, the Ithria area in the eastern countryside of Hama and the desert of Sweida.”
Following the killing of a Russian general at the hands of IS, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced Aug. 25 the launch of a military operation against IS in Badiya under the name of “White Desert.”
A Russian military spokesman said in a statement, “The terrorists are impeding the return of social and economic life in Syria, and they are also working to hinder normalization between the local Arab tribes and the authorities [in reference to the Syrian regime]. The United States is the main beneficiary of [IS attacks], using them as a pretext to justify its presence in eastern Syria.”
