More than 50 Syrian Army soldiers and ISIS fighters killed in clashes punctuated by Russian raids in the Syrian desert

Fifty Syrian Army and ISIS forces have been killed in the past 48 hours in violent clashes punctuated by Russian raids in the Syrian desert, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Saturday.

On Thursday night, Friday, ISIS launched an attack on locations of the Syrian Army forces in the vicinity of the city of al Sukhnah in the eastern countryside of Homs, which resulted in ongoing clashes between the two sides.

Russian warplanes intervened in support of government forces.

The observatory reported that 26 militants of the extremist organization had been killed as a result of clashes and raids, and that the fighting had claimed the lives of 18 members of the Syrian Army and armed militants loyal to it.

Although it was stripped of its areas of control in eastern Syria more than a year ago, the organization is still spreading in the sprawling Syrian desert that stretches from the eastern countryside of Homs to the Iraqi border.

ISIS operatives launch attacks from time to time on the positions of the Syrian Army forces in the area, sometimes targeting oil and gas installations.

On April 9, 27 members of the Syrian Army and the armed forces loyal to him were killed during clashes with the organization, which launched a surprise attack on military posts in the desert city of al Sukhnah.

The confrontations coincided with air strikes carried out by Russian aircraft on the axes of the fighting.

In mid-May, the observatory reported that the organization had executed 11 members of the Syrian Army by firing bullets in the east of the country.

Military analysts and experts confirm that eliminating the “caliphate” does not mean that the threat of the organization has disappeared with its ability to move hidden elements out of sight in the areas from which it was expelled from the Syrian desert.

They often carry out kidnappings, placing bombs, assassinations and suicide attacks on civilian and military targets simultaneously, and also target on a daily basis also the elements of the Syria Democratic Forces in eastern Deir al Zour.