Syria conflict: Russia-backed operation kills 25 Islamic State militants, says human rights monitor

Beirut: A commando operation backed by Russian warplanes and helicopters has killed 25 members of the Islamic State jihadist group in central Syria, a monitor said on Sunday. Supported by regime ally Russia, Syria’s army has waged a months-long offensive to recapture the vast desert region that stretches from the country’s centre to the Iraqi and Jordanian borders. On Saturday, “25 Islamic State members were killed and others wounded in a commando operation by Syrian regime forces with air support from Russian warplanes and helicopters” in the northeast of Homs province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. [caption id=“attachment_3764885” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Six members of the regime forces were also killed, it said. A military source said the operation occurred “20 kilometres inside Daesh (Islamic State) terrorist lines”. The raid allowed regime forces to seize control of three villages in the area, official news agency SANA reported the source as saying. The army has captured swathes of territory from the jihadists in the province. According to the Observatory, Islamic State now controls just dozens of villages in the east of Homs. The Syrian “Badiya” is a large stretch of desert that extends over around 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles) of territory. Since 2015, much of the Badiya has been held by Islamic State, but Syria’s army has been chipping away at it since May. Regime forces have ousted Islamic State from Al-Sukhna, the last jihadist-held town in Homs province. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are also fighting the jihadists in the south of neighbouring Raqqa province. A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance meanwhile is battling to retake the provincial capital, Raqqa city, from Islamic State. The jihadists also hold the majority of the vast desert province of Deir Ezzor including most of its provincial capital. More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests.