AhlulBayt News Agency - The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) launched another massive assault inside the provincial capital of the Deir Ezzor Governorate on Saturday, targeting several sites that were under the control of the Syrian Armed Forces.
ISIS began the offensive by seizing the Al-Assad Hospital, SyriaTel Hill, Sadkop Oil Factory, Deir Ezzor Cemetery, Fire Brigade Base, and Grain Silos from the Syrian Armed Forces in Deir Ezzor City.
Following their success at the aforementioned sites, ISIS attempted to capture the Firat University buildings inside Deir Ezzor City; however, this would prove to be a fatal error for the terrorist group as they found themselves spread too thin and susceptible to a Syrian Army counter-attack.
The Syrian Arab Army’s 104th Airborne Brigade of the Republican Guard – backed by the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Hashd Al-Sha’abi (Iraqi paramilitary) – would indeed launch a counter-assault in western Deir Ezzor to recapture all of the sites they lost to ISIS.
Syrian army forces retook a hospital in Deir ez-Zor after Daesh (ISIL) attacked it on Saturday following a dawn offensive by the militants on the besieged eastern Syrian city, a group close to opposition and state media said.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, claimed Daesh had killed at least 20 members of the Syrian army forces and detained some medical staff from the hospital.
Syria's official news agency SANA reported that the military "eliminated a number of ISIS (ISIL) terrorists who had infiltrated a hospital in Deir Az-Zor city and taken doctors, patients, and other civilians hostage."
"A source on the ground reported that army units clashed with a group of ISIS terrorists that had infiltrated al-Assad Hospital in Deir Az-Zor, which resulted in the death of the terrorists," SANA reported.
In a matter of two hours, the Syrian Armed Forces would recover all of the sites they lost, including the Al-Assad Hospital.
ISIS’ offensive on Saturday proved costly, as they reportedly lost 40+ combatants during their failed assault in Deir Ezzor City.
"The area has been surrounded and besieged by ISIL for months now ... There has been fighting back and forth between both sides, but this was different because the attack came from multiple sides, from the north, west and the south," Dekker said.
She also received reports that ISIL is trying to cut some vital supply lines for the Syrian government between a military airbase, a main brigade headquarters, and the centre of the city.
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