Illustrative image.
On May 14, a warrant officer of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) was killed and a soldier was wounded when their vehicle was ambushed near the frontline with the US-occupied area of al-Tanf in Syria’s southeastern region by militants believed to be members of ISIS, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The London-based monitoring group said that the SAA vehicle was ambushed near al-Shahmi junction just outside of the 55-kilometer no-fly zone the US-led coalition maintains around its main garrison in al-Tanf.
Prior to the attack, the SOHR reported a series of sorties by US-led coalition warplanes over al-Tanf garrison and the 55-kilometer zone.
Around 200 US troops and 300 fighters of the Revolutionary Commando Army, a proxy of the US-led coalition, are usually present in al-Tanf garrison, which was supposedly established to counter ISIS.
Despite the US-led coalition presence, ISIS cells remain active within the 55-kilometer zone. Recently, several incidents were reported around the zone.
On March 31, the SAA clashed with an unidentified force that sneaked out from al-Tanf 55-kilometer zone. Four soldiers and a personal of the force were killed in the clashes. The force was likely made up of ISIS terrorists. On May 6, eight soldiers of the SAA were wounded when ISIS terrorists attacked a position they were manning right outside the 55-kilometer zone.
It is well-known that the real objective of the US-led coalition presence in al-Tanf is to block a strategic highway that links the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. What remains unclear however is why the coalition is still allowing ISIS cells to move within its so-call “no-fly” zone.
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why doesn’t Russia, Syria & Iran not just clear all of them out?
they come from AL Tanf and hidden so they cant