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BEIRUT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday that Daesh had captured a town in Homs province from government forces, part of a wider counter-attack by the extremists as they come under intense pressure in eastern Syria.
There was no comment from the Syrian army on the report that the town of Al-Qaryatayn had fallen. The town is located some 300 km from Deir Ezzor city, the current focus of the Syrian government’s campaign against Daesh.
Syrian regime forces and allied militia recovered Qaryatayn from Daesh some six months ago. The Observatory said the terrorists had captured it in a surprise attack launched after their fighters had infiltrated the town.
Daesh has lost swathes of territory to the Russian-backed Syrian government and to US-backed Syrian militias that are waging separate campaigns against the group’s last major strongholds in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria.
Daesh last week counter-attacked President Bashar Assad’s forces and allied Iran-backed militias along the highway connecting Deir Ezzor city to Palmyra in central Syria, temporarily rendering the road impassable.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose group is fighting in support of the Syrian government, said on Saturday that Daesh’s counter-attacks were to be expected as Daesh was besieged and incapable of recovering ground.
The Syrian air force conducted intensive air strikes on Daesh positions and fortifications in several locations, a Syrian military source said in a report circulated by state media on Sunday. It did not mention Al-Qaryatayn.
The source said dozens of Daesh operatives had been killed in the airstrikes to the east of the town of Al-Salamiya; to the east of the town of Al-Sukhna, which is on a main road to Deir Ezzor; and in Deir Ezzor province itself.