Isis attacks the Syrian army (SAA) from behind south of Deir Ezzor. IS ambush on a bus in Shula, while the bulk of the clashes are concentrated on the Deir Ezzor-Homs highway

Isis hits the Syrian army (SAA), engaged in the maxi campaign against terrorists in the Badia desert, behind it. Several soldiers lost their lives due to an ambush by jihadists on the bus they were traveling on in the Shula area. The vehicle was located on the Deir Ezzor-Palmyra road. The attack was unexpected, as clashes between SAA and IS are concentrated further north, especially on the Deir Ezzor-Homs highway. The arrival of Russian troops, however, should help improve the situation for the local military, who are increasingly targeted by the attacks of fundamentalists. These, in fact, will take care of protecting them and providing them with assistance on the ground in the campaign against the Islamic State, adding to the Close Air Support (CAS), already guaranteed by Moscow.

Damascus hopes that the arrival of Russian soldiers in the region will change the situation

Russia was forced to intervene, at the request of Damascus, precisely because of the inability of Syrian soldiers to defend themselves from the attacks of Isis between Deir Ezzor, Raqqa, Homs and Hama. The jihadists, in fact, in response to the SAA offensive in the Badia desert have increased attacks on local troops and allied militias. Both with ambushes and with bombs. The preferred targets of IS, however, are precisely the isolated military buses and convoys, so far poorly protected and therefore an attractive target on two floors. The strictly tactical one, to cause damage to the enemy by running few risks, and the psychological one. The continuous raids suffered and the inability to counter them, in fact, are undermining the morale of the soldiers and strengthening the image of the Islamic State in the region.