Syrian regime struggles to sustain fight on divided fronts
Syrian regime struggles to sustain fight on divided fronts
As the Syrian regime continued their advance in Aleppo, its forces suffered a surprise assault from IS militants in Palmyra, highlighting how seriously overstretched Damascus' military machine has become.
3 min read
At least 15 Syrian troops were killed in an IS assault on Friday [AFP]
Syrian regime fighters in the desert plains of Palmyra were filmed fleeing their posts as Islamic State [IS] group militants launched a surprise offensive in Homs province.
The IS assault took the regime by surprise, killing 15 troops and allied fighters on Friday as an overstretched regime military looks seriously under-equipped to consolidate recent gains.
The IS assault near the city of Palmyra in Homs province took up the regime's death toll at the hands of IS in the past 24-hours to 49.
IS fighters launched simultaneous attacks on several government positions in the eastern desert regime on Thursday, including areas near the critical Mahr and Shaar oil and gas fields.
The IS-affiliate Amaq News Agency distributed video showed what it says were Syrian soldiers fleeing their positions west of Palmyra.
IS militants seized government checkpoints, silos and the village of Jazal, northwest of Palmyra, in the ongoing assault, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The IS advance brought the militants to within four kilometres [two and a half miles] of the desert city, which regime forces recaptured in March.
The advance also marks the first for IS since the militant group was pushed out of most of the province earlier this year.
The attack highlights the difficulty Assad's troops are facing - despite Russian support - in sustaining several fronts in Syria's war.
Assad's troops and allied forces seem focused on Aleppo, where they have captured almost 80 percent of rebel-held parts of the city.
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| Syrian regime artillery bombarded the fast-shrinking rebel enclave in the heart of Aleppo on Friday [AFP] |
On Friday, Russia - Syria's key ally - said that the assault on the besieged city will continue as long as the rebels remain inside Aleppo, describing opposition fighters as "bandits".
The comments came just hours after Moscow declared that both its air forces and that of the Syrian regime have ceased fire to allow for an evacuation of civilians.
"I did not say that the military operations were completely stopped, I said they were suspended for a certain time to allow civilians wishing to leave to do so," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
"[Airstrikes] will continue for as long as the bandits are still in Aleppo," Lavrov said.
As he spoke, Aleppo fell under intense shell fire as part of Damascus' huge onslaught to seize the remaining parts of a crumbling rebel enclave controlled by rebels since 2012.
Residents in the city also reported attacks by helicopters and warplanes on several districts overnight on Thursday.
But as the Syrian regime looks to gain grounds against the rebels in East Aleppo, the position of Assad's forces look less secure elsewhere in the country.
While an Aleppo conquest may be a major moral boost for the regime, it will not solve the problem of the war against IS in Syria and eventually the regime might face a new battle of keeping the country under its control.
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