A mass withdrawal of ISIS fighters from areas west of Palmyra is being reported.
The Al-Masdar news agency says ISIS fighters from areas west of Palmyra have suffered a significant number of casualties over the last three weeks according to Syrian Arab Army (SAA) source.
ISIS may be retreating to Raqqa, which indicates abandoning Palmyra as a result of these losses. Militants are currently engaged in a fierce battle with the Kurdish-led “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF) in the area.
The withdrawal of ISIS fighters from west of Palmyra has followed a string of setbacks suffered by jihadists. They were withdrawing their combatants on Monday after the Syrian Arab Army inflicted heavy casualties on their forces yesterday near the T-4 Military Airport, AMA reported.
There are also unconfirmed reports of a major build-up of Syrian troops in the area, with Syria’s elite Tiger forces supposedly re-deployed to the T4 air base following the Syrian army’s victory in Aleppo, inflating numbers to 10 000 Syrian troops converging on the area.
But analyst Alexander Mercouris says this number seems excessive, and beyond the situation’s needs or the Syrian army’s capabilities.
ISIS remains under pressure in Mosul and Al-Bab and apparently increasingly in Raqqa as well, Mercouris says.
In the coming days, the Syrian Arab Army will launch a massive counter-attack to recapture much of Palmyra’s western countryside, forcing the Islamic State terrorists to concede much of the important gas fields, according to AMA.
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