ISIS back on the offensive in Deir Ez-zor

This article is republished with permission and first appeared on South Front

On December 13, ISIS fighters recaptured the village of Kashma from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) south of the city of Mayadin, on the western bank of the Euphrates river, according to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq.

In the last 48 hours ISIS claimed that it fighters recaptured the villages of al-Jalaa, Saiyal, Salihiyah, Mujawdah and Abbas and al-Harsa on the western bank of the Euphrates in a wide-scale counter attack. However, so far these claims have not been confirmed.

Amaq also reported on December 13 that ISIS fighters damaged a BMP-1 vehicle of the SAA with a rocket-propelled grenade in Salihiyah and destroyed a tank of the SAA with an ATGM near al-Duwayr couth of Mayadin.

Moreover, ISIS fighters captured a tank and a BMP-1 vehicle of the SAA in al-Harsa and Abbas, according to Amaq.

ISIS managed to launch such a successful attack likely because the SAA and its allies rushed again and withdrew the Tiger Forces before puring the ISIS pocket in the east Homs desert.

The same mistake was made in September when ISIS launched a successful counter-attack and recaptured several positions on the al-Sukhnah–Deir Ezzor highway because the Tiger Forces had been redeployed to another front before fully securing the highway.