ISIS fighters launched attacks on government-held areas near Damascus overnight Tuesday in an apparent response to the group’s loss of ground elsewhere in Syria.
The extremist group said in a statement it had attacked the Tishrin power station 50 km (30 miles) northeast of the capital and a Syrian military source acknowledged the group had staged assaults, but said all those who took part had been killed.
Syrian and allied forces backed by Russian airstrikes have forced ISIS militants out of the town of al-Qaryatain, 100 km (60 miles) west of the ancient city of Palymrya, itself recaptured by the government last week.
The Syrian military source said Tuesday night’s attacks outside Damascus appeared to be the extremist group’s response to its reverses around Palmyra.