Taking advantage of Russia's preoccupation with Ukraine: ISIS intensifies attacks in Syrian desert

In light of the current war between Russia and Ukraine, ISIS has taken advantage of the absence of Russian air strikes and intensified its operations in Syria, specifically in the Badia desert in southeastern Syria.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that a terrorist attack targeted a military bus in the Badia in the eastern Homs countryside.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed that an attack on a bus in an overlapping area in the Badia between the governorates of Deir Ezzor and Hasakah, which was claimed by ISIS, led to the killing of 15 soldiers and the wounding of 18 others.

The Syrian Observatory stated that ISIS took advantage of the bad weather and the absence of Russian planes to launch between 10 and 12 attacks in the Syrian Badia.

It is reported that the Russian Air Force intensified its strikes against ISIS in Syria before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, as the number of Russian strikes from January to February 2022 reached more than 674 strikes in the Badia alone.

The latest attacks launched by ISIS are considered more violent compared to the previous ones. In January, the terrorist organization killed about 60 people, both military and civilians, while 200 others were wounded, according to the Syrian Observatory.

In mid-February, ISIS carried out two simultaneous attacks against two buses of the Syrian Arab Army, the first on the road between Homs and the town of Maheen, killing 11 soldiers, while the second in Damascus resulted in the death of a soldier and the wounding of 11 others.

Gathering strength

Syrian activist Omran Najib said that ISIS has managed to gather its strength again in recent years, especially after the major attack in Hasaka.

In an exclusive statement to the Reference, he confirmed that the terrorist organization previously consisted of inactive sleeper cells; however, at the present time, with Russia preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, active cells have been able in recent months to gather their strength, which has clearly been seen in the attacks that it carried out.

Najib explained that the Syrian Badia region is considered one of the areas controlled by ISIS, where ISIS elements were previously hiding from the eyes of the security services, leading to the organization presently being able, and with its gathering strength, to launch fierce attacks, with its ability to control entire cities.