​​​​​​​ISIS's massacre in desert...new episode in exposes Damascus government

 It is no secret to the world, especially those following the Syrian affairs and crisis, the extent of the danger that ISIS still poses to the Syria and the world as a whole, and its attempts to return and recovery in Syria and Iraq, as its cells practice intimidation and commit murders in the country, the latest of which is a horrific massacre against dozens of civilians in  Syrian desert.

 On the 17th of February, ISIS mercenaries launched a new attack in the Syrian desert, targeted citizens and a checkpoint for the Damascus government forces, killing 68 people, including 61 civilians.

 This attack is the most violent and bloody since the beginning of this year, and the fifth of its kind within the Syrian desert in the "Homs, Hama, and Deir Ezzor" triangle. It came at a time the world and the Damascus government were preoccupied with the recent earthquake that hit Turkey and affected large areas of Syria, on the 6th.  This February.

 Efforts to combat ISIS cells were limited to the Syrian Democratic Forces, which continued to combat and pursue cells in the north and east of the country, based on the experience they gained in dealing with the ISIS file over the past 9 years.

Where the Syrian Democratic Forces managed to dismantle 3 cells and eliminate 4 mercenaries, including two leaders, in three security operations in the eastern and northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, as confirmed by the SDF through its official accounts.

 The first operation was carried out on February 9 in the "Al-Sour" district in the northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, and ended with killing two mercenaries of an ISIS cell.

 The second took place on the 16th of the same month, in the “Al-Sabha” district in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, and ended with the elimination of an ISIS leader called “Muhannad Al-Sari Al-Fadgham,” who is considered one of the dangerous security forces of ISIS and supervises the assassinations of SDF fighters.

 As for the third operation, it coincided with the second operation in the village of “Al-Hajna” in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor as well, and ended with the elimination of the leader, “Hamza Al-Homsi,” who blew himself up after being surrounded.

 On the other hand, the Damascus government failed once again to provide security and stability within its areas, which provided an opportunity for ISIS mercenaries to attack civilians and commit massacres there.

 The recent massacre of February 17, and the great activity of ISIS that preceded it in Daraa during the last quarter of last year, and before that in As-Suwayda in July 2018, and its exploitation of the threats of the Turkish occupation state in northern and eastern Syria, demonstrated the extent of ISIS’s ability to exploit gaps and opportunities in its favor, and its insistence in  Back again.

 In general, the continued activity of ISIS in the Syrian arena, according to political analysts and researchers in the affairs of extremist and terrorist groups, is due to many reasons and factors, most notably:

 * The failure of the international powers to deal with the ISIS file as a single package and limit their efforts to advisory support to the Syrian Democratic Forces, without addressing the remnants left by the war on ISIS, whether regarding mercenaries in detention centers or their families in camps.

 * The absence of economic support for reconstruction, and the international powers turning a blind eye to the financier of ISIS represented by the Turkish occupation state and its continuous funding of ISIS, and its continuous targeting of northern and eastern Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces, which played a leading role in combating ISIS in Syria.

 * The Damascus government is intransigent in dealing with the Syrian Democratic Forces, instead of dealing with it on a national basis that serves and guarantees the unity of Syria's land and people, in the face of all parties involved in the Syrian crisis and the occupiers of Syrian lands, foremost of which is the Turkish occupation state.

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 ANHA