ISIS intensifies terrorism in Syrian desert by infiltrating from Iraq
ISIS still poses a great danger to
the citizens of the Syrian Badia desert region due to its large number of
terrorist operations there, as the terrorist organization intensified its
spread and activity with a large number of elements infiltrating from Iraq to
Syria in the Badia region, where ISIS elements forcibly plundered a number of
citizens’ homes and turned them into warehouses for storing weapons and bombs,
according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Threatening
other areas
By stationing in the Badia region,
the organization was able to threaten other areas in continuous attempts to
prove its existence after the huge losses it incurred in recent years.
The Syrian Observatory warned of the
danger of ISIS’s presence in that area, as it would endanger civilians and
their homes, especially children, as well as the kidnapping of women in
exchange for ransom.
During the year 2021, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights documented more than 344 terrorist attacks carried
out by ISIS cells in the various regions of the Syrian Badia.
According to the Observatory’s
documentation, the death toll from ISIS bombings during the year 2021 reached
229, including 93 civilians, of which five were children and nine were women,
and 136 members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Intimidation
and extortion
ISIS cells carry out massive
intimidation and extortion operations in the areas extending from the east of
the Euphrates to the Iraqi border, and these areas are controlled by the SDF,
against which ISIS holds a grudge because it was able to defeat the terrorist
organization in March 2019, according to the Guardian.
The Syrian Badia is considered an
ideal location for ISIS in Syria, enabling it to hide and carry out terrorist
operations against isolated villages and neighboring areas.
The dangerous thing is that the
Syrian Badia, despite the success of the Syrian Arab Army forces in retaking it
in 2017, is outside the control of the Syrian army, which enabled ISIS elements
to become stationed firmly there.
ISIS hideouts in the Syrian desert
ISIS
dens are concentrated in the Syrian Badia in three areas. The first area is in
Jebel Bishri in the far southeastern part of Raqqa Governorate, the second area
in Al-Dafina in southwestern Deir Ezzor, and the third area in the desert
between Palmyra and Al-Sukhna in the west, according to a report published by
the Washington Post.
The
report emphasized that this area is very suitable for ISIS, because it is far
from the control of the army and security and there are dust storms that occur
on a daily basis. to ISIS.
Clear presence
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights spoke about ISIS’s attempts to assert its
presence in the Syrian territories, where the signs of the organization’s
return are now clear through the escalating operations it is carrying out
within the spheres of the SDF’s influence, taking advantage of all available
opportunities to provoke chaos and carry out its operations in an explicit
message that the organization is not finished.
The
organization’s outposts are spread over about 4,000 square kilometers, starting
from the Abu Rujmayn mountain area northeast of Palmyra, reaching the Deir
Ezzor desert and its western countryside, in addition to its movements in the
Al-Sukhna desert and north of the administrative borders of As-Suwayda
Governorate.
