Syrian Desert campaign (December 2017–present)


The Syrian Desert campaign is a campaign waged by Syrian government forces and their allies from Iran and Russia against the remaining forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria.

Background

Following a series of campaigns between 2016 and 2017 by the Syrian government and allied forces, the American-led CJTF-OIR coalition and Syrian Democratic Forces, and Turkey and its supporting rebels, the remnants of ISIL's forces west of the Euphrates River withdrew into a large pocket in the Syrian Desert, stretching between the western Homs Governorate and the eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate, from where they utilized guerrilla tactics to target pro-government forces.

Timeline

2017

By the end of 2017, the Syrian Army's 5th Legion, supported by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanese Hezbollah, had reportedly seized 50 square kilometers of desert territory in the southeastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, expanding their buffer-zone around the strategic T-2 Pumping Station.

2018

In mid-January 2018, five Hezbollah fighters were killed by ISIL in the eastern countryside of Homs, including a prominent commander.
On 17 March, 14 soldiers were killed when ISIL forces captured the T-2 Pumping Station. In the following days, government forces made attempts to recapture T-2. One week after the capture of the station, 26 government troops and nine ISIL fighters were killed during clashes in the desert near Mayadin. Between 24 and 29 March, several ISIL attacks were repelled in the Mayadin area, while between 31 March and 1 April, ISIL forces were driven back from the T-2 area.
In early April, ISIL forces in the Homs Governorate employed an inghimasi attack on the Shaer gas field near Palmyra. The battle lasted for several hours, with the attack eventually being repelled by the Syrian Army with assistance of Russian attack helicopters. Concurrently, ISIL seized several points between Abu Kamal and Mayadin. Attacks were also conducted along the Sukhnah-Deir ez-Zor highway. In Mid-April, ISIL attacks south of al-Qaryatayn left 18 pro-government and five ISIL fighters dead, with the militants seizing several positions. ISIL made further advances by seizing an air defense base south of the town, but were again repelled by Russian-backed government forces. Pro-government forces also regained positions along the Sukhnah-Deir ez-Zor highway. Meanwhile, ISIL attacks continued in the Mayadin area and on 18 April, 25 pro-government and 13 ISIL fighters were killed in clashes, while on 20 April, ISIL attempted to attack the T-3 Pumping Station.
Between 8 and 11 May, the Syrian Army managed to push ISIL 60 kilometers from Mayadin, clearing 1,500 square kilometers of territory in an attempt to split the ISIL pocket in the desert. On 22 May, an ISIL attack involving suicide bombers and armored vehicles on a military outpost near the T-3 Pumping Station left between 26 and 30 pro-government fighters dead, according to the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and local residents, while the military put the death toll at 16. The next day, ISIL militants attacked a Syrian-Russian military convoy near Mayadin, leaving 35 pro-government forces dead, including nine Russians. Four of the Russians were regular soldiers, while Russia reported that 43 attackers were also killed during the fighting. Three days later, ISIL conducted more attacks near Mayadin and Abu Kamal.
On 4 June, ISIL attacked government forces along a 100-kilometer front from Mayadin to Abu Kamal, capturing two or three towns on the western bank of the Euphrates. The militants attacked on two fronts, with ISIL fighters coming from both the desert, west of the Euphrates, and from their territory on the eastern bank of the river. A few days before the assault, around 400 ISIL fighters crossed the Euphrates from their enclave to the east following heavy shelling of government positions. The capture of the towns cut the Deir ez-Zor-Abu Kamal highway. The following day, pro-government forces recaptured the areas they had lost.
On 8 June, ISIL renewed its offensive and managed to break the Army's lines around Abu Kamal by using 10 suicide bombers, including several SVBIEDs. ISIL fighters managed to break into the city and fighting came close to the city center. The attack once again cut the highway. However, the Army subsequently counterattacked and by the following day it was reported that the military managed to re-capture the city. During the fighting, the commander of the Syrian Army's 11th Armored Division, General Ali Muhammad al-Hussein, was killed in clashes on the Abu Kamal outskirts. The commander of Hezbollah's Rocket Division and two Iranian IRGC members, including an officer, were also killed. ISIL's offensive against Abu Kamal continued on 10 June until the militants withdrew from the city on 11 June. Overall, 246 pro-government and 138 ISIL fighters were killed between 22 May and 11 June.
On 17 June, ISIL launched a surprise attack on government forces around the T-3 Pumping Station, destroying one tank and killing several Syrian soldiers. The next day, government reinforcements from the Republican Guard, National Defence Forces, Liwa Fatemiyoun, as well as additional Hezbollah fighters, were sent in preparation for a new operation against ISIL in the region. The same day, the military seized several ISIL positions between T-2 airbase and al-Hamima and by 20 June pro-government forces reportedly cleared 1,200 km2 of territory in the Homs-Deir ez-Zor region, killing at least 50 ISIL militants. In addition, government forces seized 2,500 square kilometers of ISIL-held territory along the Iraqi border on 21 June. However, ISIL attacks from the Deir ez-Zor desert on government positions around the Euphrates continued throughout the summer, during which dozens of Syrian Army soldiers were killed; some estimates by the local observers were that up to 1,000 ISIL fighters were still hiding in the Homs-Deir ez-Zor desert pocket.
On 31 August, the Syrian Army and the pro-government Palestinian militia Liwa al-Quds launched a large anti-ISIL operation. forcing ISIL to retreat far into the desert. Later, ISIL attacks on 2 September near Mayadin and south of Deir ez-Zor left 22 pro-government and at least eight ISIL fighters dead.
The Syrian Army advanced 30 kilometers into ISIL territory during an offensive between 10 and 11 September and advanced further between 14 and 15 September, nearly splitting the pocket. By the end of 15 September, the military had reportedly captured three towns. By this point, since the offensive started on September 10, 10 pro-government and eight ISIL fighters had been killed. On September 16, ISIL launched a large counter-offensive, recapturing all of the territory it had recently lost and killing over 25 soldiers. However, on 17 September, the military counterattacked and once again captured all the areas it had lost the previous day. The Army reportedly continued to advance against ISIL by 19 September, amid fighting that left another nine ISIL fighters and two government soldiers dead, until fighting died down.
On 4 November, 11 people were killed in an explosion at a Syrian military base along the highway connecting Damascus and Deir ez-Zor, including six Russian private military contractors. The next day, during fighting east of Sukhnah, five soldiers and eight ISIL fighters were killed.

2019

The death of three Russian soldiers was confirmed after they had gone missing during an ISIL ambush in February 2019. Several Syrian servicemen were also reported killed in the ambush. According to Russia, a group of more than 30 ISIL fighters who took part in the ambush were tracked down and “destroyed”. Around the same time, a Russian PMC was killed by a landmine in the region. At the end of February, the military started combing operations in the desert against the ISIL pocket and in early March, the Army conducted airstrikes against ISIL positions near Sukhnah, while preparations were taking place for the military to launch an operation in the area.
On 30 March, Syrian Army reinforcements were sent to the Palmyra countryside after several ISIL ambushes took place along the Palmyra-Deir ez-Zor highway over the previous two weeks, one of which-on 24 March-left five soldiers dead. Two days later, at the start of April, ISIL conducted a large attack on Army positions near Palmyra which was repelled after airstrikes were conducted by the Syrian Air Force. By 3 April, more Army reinforcements were sent in anticipation of a new ISIL attack on government positions. Meanwhile, a group of soldiers went missing following an ISIL ambush along the road near Haribshah on 31 March. On 11 and 18 April, two more ambushes took place with another military convoy going missing along the road between Palmyra and Deir ez-Zor, while an Army unit was ambushed north of al-Sukhnah. In addition, heavy fighting took place between 12 and 14 April, involving members of the Palestinian Liwa al-Quds militia.
On 21 April, ISIL captured the mountain town of al-Kawm, forcing the Syrian Army and pro-government Palestinian militias to retreat. ISIL hit-and-run attacks continued into late June and fighting between 24 March and 23 June, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, left 161 pro-government and 53 ISIL fighters dead. Of the pro-government dead, 10 were Palestinian Liwa al-Quds militiamen, while nine were Iranian-led troops and two were Russians. Over 70 of the soldiers were killed in the month of April alone.

2020

ISIL attacks continued throughout 2019 and into 2020. Between March 2019 and July 2020, 627 pro-government and 273 ISIL militants had been killed in the fighting in the desert. Government fatalities included 127 Iranian-led fighters and two Russians. Also 8 civilians were killed.
ISIL attacked pro-Assad forces in al-Sukhna in the Syria desert on 9 April 2020. More than twenty fighters on each side were killed.
In early July, 18 pro-government fighters and 26 ISIL militants were killed, after an extremist assault on government positions near al-Sukhna.