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On August 18, ISIS fighters besieged in the area of al-Safa, north of the governorate of al-Suwayda, attacked several positions of the SAA around the area in a new attempt to break the siege, according to the Syrian blog al-Masdar News. The pro-government blog said that the SAA and local fighters repelled the attack after hours of clashes with the terrorists.
Furthermore, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that warplanes of the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) carried out a new series of airstrikes on several positions and hideouts of ISIS in al-Safa. The SAA artillery also shelled the ISIS-held area, according to the UK-based monitoring group.
A day earlier, a highly-trained small unit of the SAA’s 5th Corps carried out a special operation in the heavily fortified area of al-Safa to free around 30 civilian hostages, who had been previously abducted by the terrorist group. However, the unit failed to find the hostages.
The SAA will likely launch a new ground attack in al-Safa in the upcoming hours in order to increase the pressure on ISIS cells, which are already suffering from the lack of food and water.
