The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the killing of 14 members of the regime forces and the injury of more than 19 others with varying degrees of wounds in a bloody attack carried out by elements of the ISIS organization on a sleeper bus transporting the elements in the area of the third station in the Palmyra desert in eastern Homs countryside.
The Observatory, in a statement on its official website on Tuesday, mentioned the transfer of the wounded to Palmyra Hospital for treatment, amid significant alert by the regime forces.
The Observatory stated that the Syrian desert has witnessed a notable escalation since the beginning of this year in attacks by the ISIS terrorist organization in various areas under the control of the regime forces.
On January 7, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights referred to the killing of a member of the Fourth Division by gunmen from ISIS cells, who were riding a motorcycle, near Al-Hassan School in the city of Mayadin, east of Deir Ezzor.
The Observatory also pointed out on the same day that groups from the organization attacked positions of the regime forces in the Al-Kom area north of the city of Al-Sukhnah in the eastern countryside of Homs and clashed with the regime forces and their allied militants in the area, without any information about human losses.
Additionally, individuals from the organization’s cells attacked a group of sheepherders in the Al-Badiya area south of Palmyra city, resulting in the death of one herder, the kidnapping of another, and the death of approximately 100 sheep.
The presence of ISIS in Syria has been a significant factor in the country’s ongoing conflict. Their involvement began as a consequence of the 2003 Iraq war, which created a vacuum in parts of Iraq filled by radical jihadists. Many of these jihadists came from abroad, eager to attack American troops. As Syria descended into civil war, these jihadists took advantage of the chaos, crossing the border to establish ISIS with a radical jihadist ideology. They aimed to resurrect the Islamic caliphate that first emerged in the 7th century, aspiring to create a single Islamic State across the entire Islamic world. However, the way ISIS ruled the areas they conquered suggested that religion was used more as an excuse for a murderous ideology than a genuine belief system. By 2019, ISIS had lost its territorial “state” in Syria, but the group’s radical jihadist ideology remained undefeated, leaving the potential for new support to emerge.
