In a devastating assault on Tuesday, the Islamic State (ISIS) targeted a military assembly in central Syria’s Duizen area, leading to the death of nine Syrian regime forces, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The attack, which took place in the eastern countryside of Hama, also left three other members wounded.
This recent surge of violence by ISIS members adds to a series of sporadic but lethal attacks in the region. Just earlier this month, on February 2, an offensive by the group in the Palmyra desert claimed the lives of at least five regime forces, underscoring the persistent threat ISIS poses despite its supposed defeat.
The extremist group, which seized vast territories in Iraq and Syria back in 2014, faced significant setbacks over the years. In March 2019, the defeat of ISIS was declared by the Syrian Democratic Forces after intense battles that cornered the militants and their families in the town of Baghouz, near the Iraqi border.
However, despite concerted efforts by the international coalition led by the United States and Russian military interventions in support of Damascus, ISIS remnants continue to launch deadly attacks. These assaults are not only aimed at Syrian regime forces and their allies but also at the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s east and northeast.
The ongoing conflict in Syria, which erupted in 2011, has led to a tragic toll of over half a million lives lost, massive infrastructure destruction, and the displacement of millions both within and beyond the country’s borders.
