More than 150 dead in ISIS attacks south of Syria

R Beirut, July 25 (AFP) A series of suicide bombings and raids claimed by the Islamic State group killed today more than 150 people in southern Syria, in the south of Syria. 39, one of the deadliest attacks ever perpetrated by jihadists in the country. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks had affected several areas of Sweida province in the south of the country, where the IS maintains its presence in a northern desert region -East.

"Caliphate soldiers" attacked Syrian government positions and security outposts in the city of Sweida, then blew up their explosive belts

The Britain-based observatory stated that three suicide bombers had set up belts trapped in the town of Sweida, while other explosions were striking villages to the north and east. "ISIS fighters then stormed villages in the north-east of the province and killed residents in their homes," said Rami Abdel Rahman, chief of the Observatory.

. According to estimates by the Observatory, the remaining 94 were pro-regime fighters, most of whom were residents who had collected weapons to defend their villages, he says

Sweida, whose residents are mostly from of the Druze minority. , were relatively isolated from the war that has ravaged the rest of the country since 2011.

"It's the bloodiest record of Sweida province since the beginning of the war" in 2011 and l 39; One of the deadliest in Syria, Abdel Rahman said:

The violence also killed 30 ISIS fighters, including suicide bombers.

Jihadists captured at least three of the seven targeted villages, but clashes continue today,

The media confirmed that the attacks killed and wounded residents of the city and villages of Sweida north and east, but did not give accurate results.

SANA published images of the aftermath of the attack in the city of Sweida.

UN humanitarian coordinator in Syria, Ali al-Zaatari, condemned the "terrorist bombing in the city of Sweida"

Abandoned shoes lay in the middle of the road among fruits that s & # Were spread in cardboard boxes. Today, "all civilians must be protected."

And the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the ISIS attacks "confirm the need for the strong and coordinated efforts of the international community to eradicate this universal evil from Syrian territory". said that the army was targeting the IS in the east of the province.

Although pro-government forces ousted the group of urban centers in eastern Syria last year, surprise raids over the last few months have killed the regime's ozens and allied fighters .

Jihadists still hold some territory in southern Syria, including in Sweida and another isolated but larger island in the neighboring province of Daraa, in the west

. -Walid, a jihadist faction whose 1,000 fighters have pledged allegiance to the IS

After ousting non-jihadist rebels from most of the south of the country, the troops of President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies are approaching the IS pocket The province of Daraa

SANA said that the attacks of the IS against the neighboring Sweida were an attempt to relieve the pressure "on the remains of the IS that are in the western Daraa countryside. "

EI's Bag in Daraa

At least 41 civilians have been killed in air strikes on the jihadist holdup since July 19, according to the monitor.

Fierce clashes between the two parties killed 49 regime fights The Syrian south is ostensibly protected from an internationally negotiated ceasefire since last year, but the violence has increased dramatically in recent weeks.

Last month, Assad launched a dazzling badault that beat rebel areas in the north of the country. He then headed for Quneitra, the neighboring province bordering the Golan Heights annexed by Israel.

Yesterday, a Syrian military source accused Israel of firing on one of its warplanes. while he was conducting operations against jihadists in Quneitra.

The Israeli army said to have shot down a Syrian fighter plane infiltrated into Israeli airspace, risking a new escalation around the sensitive buffer zone

to support the ISIS and D & B Other anti-government factions.

IS invaded large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, but has since lost most of that territory

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011 following the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations. (AFP) SMJ
SMJ