By Anas al-Bar | 2024-07-22

"Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) remnants have been carrying out violent attacks on an almost daily basis in the Syrian desert in recent months, local residents said, pointing to the ongoing need for counterterrorism efforts.

Since the group's 2019 defeat in Syria, ISIS remnants have killed around 4,100 people in more than 2,500 attacks, which include bombings, ambushes and attacks with firearms, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The attacks have been concentrated in Syria's eastern desert (Badiya), which extends from rural Damascus to the Iraqi border, with around 2,744 of the victims killed in this area, the Observatory said.

ISIS fighters fled into the eastern desert after they were ousted from al-Baghouz, their last stronghold in Syria.

The Observatory toll includes Syrian civilians as well as members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Syrian regime forces, and Iran-aligned militias, Syrian journalist Ahed al-Saleebi told Al-Fassel.

"The tally underscores the continued ferocity of the group despite the passage of several years since its collapse and the continued targeting of its elements," he said.

ISIS is "able to reach different places and regions in Syria," he added, and is capable of carrying out complex attacks, especially in the country's northeast.

Security operations

But ISIS also has suffered heavy losses, with more than 2,000 of its leaders and elements killed over the past five years by the SDF.

During the first half of this year, the SDF -- which is backed by the US-led international coalition -- launched 28 security operations against ISIS cells, it said in a July 4 statement.

Six of these operations thwarted terrorist attacks, it said. Ten ISIS elements were killed, and 233 terrorists or suspected terrorists were arrested.

ISIS is intensifying its activity in rural Deir Ezzor, taking advantage of the instability created by Iranian groups present there.

"ISIS is not finished," Deir Ezzor resident Jamil al-Ali told Al-Fassel.

"Its elements are still attacking nearby villages, killing defenseless people, and then fleeing toward the desert to hide," he said. "They kill anyone who approaches their hideouts, especially shepherds and truffle hunters."

The group also has been kidnapping farmers for ransom or attempting to steal their livestock, al-Ali said.

"Our concern over the terrorist threat is growing," he said.

In the face of the renewed threat from ISIS, Iran-aligned militias and Syrian regime forces "care only about themselves," he said, complaining that their activities serve only to strengthen the extremist group.