The Russian Air Force’s aerial campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) in the Homs Governorate’s eastern countryside has begun and the aforementioned terrorist group has already felt the effects of these powerful airstrikes near the ancient cities of Palmyra (Tadmur) and Quraytayn.
According to a military source at the T-4 Military Airport in east Homs, the Russian Air Force has carried out over 50 airstrikes in the last 48 hours around the cities of Quraytayn and Palmyra, striking several ISIS military targets and killing a number of the terrorist group’s combatants.
While under heavy bombardment from the Russian Air Force, ISIS was given another surprise on Sunday morning when the Syrian Arab Army’s 120th Brigade of the 2nd Armored Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Sadad and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) – advanced from the town of Maheen to the mountains that overlook the ancient Syriac Christian city of Quraytayn.
With the Syrian Armed Forces overlooking Quraytayn, ISIS finds itself in a difficult bind as any retreat from this ancient city would endanger their large supply line from the Al-‘Anbar Governorate in Iraq to the Homs Governorate’s eastern countryside.
Currently, the Syrian Armed Forces are only positioned outside of Quraytayn, they are currently planning a final assault on this city, but this final assault could be weeks away.