ALEPPO, Syria — Syrian government forces and pro-regime militias seized the desert of Suwayda in southern Syria on Aug. 12 following battles that lasted for eight days against the Islamic State (IS) organization.
Only two days into the start of the military campaign against IS on Aug. 5, the Syrian regime forces started achieving military gains against the militant organization in the Suwayda desert.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Aug. 7 that the Syrian regime forces have achieved military gains against IS as they progressed and seized the Safa hills in the northeast of the Suwayda desert.
The observatory also reported that 16 IS members were killed during the confrontations with the regime forces and pro-regime militias in the area, while four people from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party were killed following a suicide attack carried out by one of the IS members at a party headquarters in the eastern desert of Suwayda.
Of note, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party is fighting IS alongside the regime through the party's military wing, “Nosoor al-Zawbaa” (Storm Eagles), and has taken part in the battles that raged in southern Syria against IS and Syrian armed opposition factions.