On September 30, ISIS fighters captured al-Sa’ad village south of al-Suwar town in the northern Deir Ezzor countryside after a large attack on positions of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) around the village, according to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq. 4 SDF fighters were killed during the attack on the village while the rest run away from it, according to Amaq.
This was the first large counter-attack of ISIS against the SDF since the group started its military operation in Deir Ezzor governorate. ISIS launched many hit-and-run attacks against the SDF in the governorate, but it didn’t try to recapture any area it lost from the SDF before.
Meanwhile, Amaq released new photos of ISIS fighters in al-Shula village at the al-Sukhnah–Deir Ezzor Highway. According to Amaq, ISIS fighters ambushed and killed 3 pro-Syrian government tribe’s leaders. Moreover, ISIS fighters attacked a position of Liwa al-Quds around and Shula and killed at least 4 fighters of Liwa al-Quds in the attack.
While the photos confirm that the location of the attacks is in al-Shula village, the date of the attacks is not confirmed yet. So far, some Syrian pro-government sources insist that al-Shula is still under the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) control, while other sources argue that the village is a no-man-land.