FTO Activities in Syria
On December 26 clashes between militants of the Islamic State (IS, banned in the Russian Federation) and fighters of the Kurdish troops of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took place in the center of Raqqa governorate. According to the Sky News-Arabia TV channel, the militants arranged an explosion near the SDF headquarters and then attacked the building. According to the TV channel, four Kurdish fighters were killed during when resisting the attack.
On December 29, SDF positions in the Raqqa governorate were attacked. This was reported by the SANA news agency, citing local sources. According to them, near Jadid Khet settlement in the east of the governorate, unidentified persons riding a motorcycle were shooting at the SDF base. The attack left three Kurdish fighters dead.
On December 30, IS militants attacked three buses carrying oil workers fr om the al-Tayim field In Deir ez-Zor governorate. The Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources of the Arab Republic, Bassam Toume informed Al-Ikhbariya TV channel about this. “As a result of the assault, ten specialists were killed and two more were injured,” he said. “They were all part of a shift team that worked on a rotational basis at the oil facility.”
On December 5, a powerful explosion rocked the city of Al Qamishli in the northeast of the Hasakah governorate. According to the Al-Hadas TV channel, the terrorists set off a bomb planted in a pickup truck parked near the headquarters of the Kurdish troops. According to them, the blast left several soldiers and civilians killed and injured.
On December 24, the Syrian military clashed with militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, banned in the Russian Federation) in the east of Idlib governorate. According to Al-Watan newspaper, the militants made several attempts to break through to the military airfield in Taftanaz, taking advantage of bad weather conditions. Their attacks were repelled by government forces, which inflicted losses on the enemy near Bsartun village, wh ere at least 25 terrorists were killed.
On December 8, Syrian army troops prevented a group of terrorists from infiltrating Latakia governorate to commit sabotage. As a military source told SANA news agency, during the operation, two members of the HTS-associated group the were killed, two more were wounded and one was taken prisoner.
On December 11, five fighters of the Syrian army died fighting a group of terrorists who were trying to enter Latakia governorate to commit sabotage. This was reported by the Al-Hadas TV channel. There was no information about the losses among the militants.
On December 11, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported the elimination of two IS field commanders in eastern Syria. They were eliminated in a helicopter strike in the village of Az-Zor in Deir ez-Zor governorate.
On December 20, CENTCOM announced three operations in Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah governorates, as a result of which six IS militants were captured, including field commander al-Zubeidi.