Some 120 Islamic State fighters and 60 foreign mercenaries were killed in a series of Russian air strikes in Syria over the past 24 hours, the defense ministry in Moscow said on Saturday. “A command post of the terrorists and up to 80 [IS] fighters including nine natives of the Northern Caucasus were destroyed in the area of Mayadeen,” the ministry said, adding some 40 IS fighters were killed around the town of Albu Kamal.
As a result of an air strike more than 60 foreign mercenaries from the former Soviet Union, Tunisia, and Egypt were killed south of Deir Ezzor. The ministry said the “large numbers of foreign mercenaries” were coming into the Syrian border town of Albu Kamal from Iraq.
Mayadeen is one of the Islamic State group’s last bastions in Syria. The advances against IS in Deir Ezzor have cost a heavy civilian death toll from Russian and coalition air raids. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian air strikes on Thursday night killed 14 people, including three children, fleeing across the Euphrates on rafts near Mayadeen.
Russia has not acknowledged any civilian deaths from its strikes since it intervened in Syria in 2015, and dismisses the Observatory’s reporting as biased. Moscow has been carrying out air strikes in support of its ally Damascus targeting both IS in Deir Ezzor province and rival jihadists led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate in Idlib province in the northwest.
The Syria Democratic Forces targeted by their heavy machineguns areas in the outskirts of Azaz city in the northern countryside of Aleppo, after the midnight of Thursday – Friday, and the regime forces also shelled yesterday after the midnight areas in Al-Nu’manyah village in the southern countryside of Aleppo, and no information about injuries, the regime forces also shelled places in the area of Al-Bhoth Al-Elmiyyah west of Aleppo city, without information about injuries, while warplanes bombed this morning areas in Urum al-Kubrah town in the western countryside of Aleppo, which caused material damage to the property of the citizens.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored continuation of the violent fighting since yesterday in the afternoon, the 28th of September 2017, between the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities on one hand, and the members of the “Islamic State” organization on the other, in areas extended from the western desert of Deir Ezzor, to the vicinity of Al-Sukhnah city in the eastern desert of Homs, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the death toll in the ranks of the regime forces.
The Syrian army forces and allied militia carried out, on Wednesday, an offensive on a village, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, Qasioun News reported.
Local sources said that the Syrian army forces, backed up by Russian, carried out an offensive on the Sa’alo village, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
The offensive was launched from the outskirt of Mariya village on the Islamic State military headquarters that controls Deir Ezzor – Mayadin highway, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, while resulted in capturing more than 30 Kilometers of the highway.
Meanwhile, Russian warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes on the cities of Mayadin and Buleel and their outskirts, leaving dozens of civilian casualties.
It is noteworthy that the Islamic State has recently retreated, in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, which is considered the largest stronghold of the terrorist group in Syria, after several military operations carried out Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian army forces.