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On January 25, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) repelled an ISIS attack on its positions in the villages of Kishmah and Ghuraybah in the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The SANA added that the SAA killed 25 ISIS fighters and destroyed several vehicles of the terrorist group.
Earlier, the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq reported that ISIS fighters launched a wide-scale attack on the SAA north of the city of al-Bukamal. ISIS fighters reportedly destroyed two battle tanks of the SAA in al-Salihiyah and al-Ramadi north and east of al-Bukamal with ATGMs during the attack.
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Amaq didn’t report any new operations against the SAA in the last few hours. This may confirm that the first phase of ISIS attack failed. However, the terrorist group will likely launch other attacks later as it is desperate to re-establish a foothold on the western bank of the Euphrates River in order to reconnect with its besieged fighters in the Homs desert.
The SANA said that the ISIS attack was the first against the SAA in the Euphrates Valley since the western bank was fully liberated from ISIS on December 6.
