Russian and Syrian regime warplanes carried out intense air raids in the last days, targeting sites believed to be for ISIS in the Syrian area of Badia, east of Homs, Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor. This coincided with Russian air raids that targeted areas in Jabal Al-Zawiya, south of Idlib, accompanied by ground bombardment of the regime forces and loyal militias on the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo, northwest Syria.
A source in eastern Homs said that “the Russian fighters, along with helicopters belonging to the Syrian regime forces, carried out about 90 air strikes with missiles and machine guns, during which they targeted sites and places where ISIS fighters are deployed in the countryside of Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa from the southern side, and other sites in the Badia.”
The same source explained that “huge military forces affiliated with the Fourth Division of the regime forces, and military groups from militias loyal to Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah in the Syrian desert, are preparing to launch a new brushing operation, within the administrative areas of the governorates of Homs, Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor in the middle of the Syrian desert, within the few days.”
About the same subject, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights indicated that “ days ago, Russian warplanes launched more than 40 air strikes on the Syrian desert, in the Rusafa desert, Sukhnah and Deir Ez-Zor desert, bringing to about 172 the number of raids launched by Russian warplanes on the desert, since the beginning of April.”
In Idlib, a member of the opposition said that Russian planes carried out a series of air raids with high-explosive vacuum missiles, on areas around the towns of Sufuhun, Al-Fatirah, and Flaifel, south of Idlib, accompanied by artillery shelling on the areas of Al-Bara, Deir Sunbul, Felifel and Al-Fatirah, northwestern Syria. He added that "the lines of contact between the opposition factions and the regime forces in the Kabanah area of Jabal Al-Akrad in the Lattakia countryside witnessed, during the past hours, violent clashes between the two parties, with heavy artillery, tanks and rocket launchers."
He pointed out that "a new military convoy of the Turkish forces, including armored vehicles, personnel carriers and logistical trucks, entered into Syrian territory from the Kafr Losin crossing in northern Syria.
In another context, two members of a militia loyal to Iran were killed and others wounded, in a clash with military forces affiliated with the regime forces in Aleppo, northern Syria. Activists in Aleppo said that “military forces affiliated with the Fourth Division of the regime forces opened fire on military vehicles belonging to the Iran-backed Imam Reza Brigades, after they refused to stop at a checkpoint in the center of Aleppo city, and this was followed by violent clashes between the two parties, which led to the death of two members of the armed forces, and five others were wounded, and a state of alert on both sides occurred in the area, prior to the intervention of Russian military forces and the disengagement of the clashes.”