Syrian army reluctant to storm final ISIS stronghold
The Syrian army and its allies have not yet begun the assault on the city of Abu Kamal in the Deir ez-Zor province, considered the Islamic State terrorist group’s final stronghold in Syrian territory, reported on the Telegram channel Directorate 4, which monitors Syrian conflict.
There is heavy artillery presence in the region. The militants’ positions are being bombarded with 152 millimeter and 122 millimeter self-propelled 2S3 Akatsiya and 2S1 Gvozdika howitzers. “It can be assumed that the assault will only begin once most of the reinforcements established by ISIS militants in the city have been destroyed,” the channel message noted.
The Syrian army is not yet able to take the villages near to Abu Kamal. In the last few days, ISIS terrorists have already repelled several attacks.
However, militants’ attacks on Syrian positions using “jihadmobiles” and suicide bombers have also not succeeded, due to well-organized defense on the part of the Syrian army.
On November 12, a representative of the Russian forces in Syria refuted the claim that the Syrian military had allegedly left the city of Abu Kamal to ISIS militants. According to him, the remaining pockets of terrorist resistance in the city will be crushed, after which the military will begin to clear districts of bombs. The Iranian news agency Fars reported previously that the militants had been driven out of Abu Kamal by the Syrian army.
The Syrian authorities announced that they had driven ISIS out of Abu Kamal on November 8. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed this information.