Islamic State takes advantage of Ukraine war to increase attacks
The Islamic State has recently intensified its activity against the Syrian government forces and its allies, setting up a number of ambushes in the Syrian desert and killing dozens.
The Islamic State (IS) regularly targets military bases and vehicles in the Syrian desert, which extends between the governorates of Homs and Deir ez-Zor on the border with Iraq, the area to which IS fighters have retreated since they lost their last stronghold in Syria in 2019.
On March 6, Syria’s official SANA news agency quoted a government military source as saying that “13 soldiers were killed and 18 others were wounded when a military bus was attacked by terrorists in the Palmyra desert in the Homs countryside.”
More recently, on March 16, IS militants staged an ambush against military targets belonging to Iranian forces in the Syrian desert, killing three of them.
Sources told Al-Monitor that the government forces brought in military reinforcements to Palmyra from other areas in the Homs governorate, including military vehicles, weapons and soldiers from the 14th Special Forces Division.
