Russian warplanes targeted locations and movement routes of ISIS-affiliated groups in the Syrian badia at the triangle of Raqqa, Hama, and Homs in a series of airstrikes.
Russia's Sputnik agency reported a high-level military source stating that reconnaissance detected nighttime movements of ISIS militants southwest of Raqqa province, near the administrative borders of Hama and Homs provinces. This prompted a swift response from Russian warplanes through a series of airstrikes. The source revealed that the airstrikes targeted moving ISIS vehicles deep within the badia and dealt with the locations from which the groups had launched, leading to the destruction of four four-wheel-drive vehicles and five locations of the organization. It also thwarted a planned attack by ISIS on Syrian army positions in the region.
The source noted that ISIS militants were moving between several of their positions in the area, likely preparing for an attack, before they were struck by a squadron of Russian aircraft with over 12 airstrikes. The operation to search the Syrian badia for ISIS cells continues to this moment, encompassing Homs, Hama, and Raqqa, stretching to the Tanf area controlled by the U.S. military, alongside operations in the eastern and western Deir ez-Zor badia, reaching the border region with Iraq.
Since the declaration of the end of its caliphate about two years ago and the loss of all its territories, ISIS has retreated to the badia between Homs and Deir ez-Zor provinces, along the border with Iraq, where its fighters have fortified themselves in mountainous areas. With the recent increase in attacks by the organization against regime forces, the badia has turned into a battleground accompanied by Russian airstrikes in support of government forces, targeting extremist fighters' positions.
