GOVERNMENT FORCES CLEAR 3,700KM2 FROM ISIS IN HOMS-DEIR EZZOR DESERT

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On June 20, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies launched a limited military operation against ISIS in the eastern Homs countryside and secured 2,500km2 between the city of Palmyra and the town of Hamimah.

A source in the SAA told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that the SAA secured the following areas in eastern Homs during the operation:

Tell al-Kibd, Irtiwaziyat al-Akfan, Bir al-Akfan, Tulul al-Jabri, Tulul al-Habari, Bir al-Tayariyah, Bir al-Wurud, Bir Zuid, Bir al-Samadiyah, Bir Atshan, Bir Sijar, Bir al-Bathiyah, Saad al-Waer, Bir Makr al-Waer.

The SAA also advanced in the southern and southwestern Deir Ezzor countryside securing 1,200km2 between the areas of Faydat ibn Muiny’a, the T-2 station, M’aizliyah and Dahrat Wadi al-Miyah, according to the SANA.

A week earlier, the SAA launched a similar military operation during which its forces secured 2,000km2 in the western Deir Ezzor countryside, including Faydat ibn Muiny’a.

These limited operations are aimed at countering the threat of ISIS, which is currently planning to launch a large scale attack on the city of al-Bukamal near the Syrian-Iraqi border, according to a report of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The SAA and its allies will likely launch a larger military operation to eliminate the remaining fighters of ISIS in the Homs desert, between the governorates of Homs and Deir Ezzor, after securing southern Syria.

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