ISIS Takes Syrian Town in Attempted Comeback // FAI ONLINE

A Peshmerga fighter is killed in an Islamic State attack on Tuesday is loaded into an ambulance in the Kurdistan Region's Garmiyan, April 8, 2020. (Unnamed, Social Media)

A well-coordinated and fierce offensive by remnants of the Islamic State against the Syrian army in southern Homs province was successful in briefly controlling the town of al-Sukhnah near the Iraqi border last Thursday, before a massive counter-offensive that included at least a dozen Russian warplanes forced the Islamic militants back into the Syrian desert. The alarming attack is the latest in a string of over 100 attacks by ISIS fighters against Kurdish, Iranian, and Syrian Syria since February 1st, and the largest in a growing trend that proves that the jihadist dream of a territorial caliphate is far from dead.

The attack in Homs came just a day after 4 Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) militiamen were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol near the former ISIS capital of al-Raqqah. Several Kurdish SDF fighters were also reported dead in kidnapping and hit-and-run attacks last week, followed by a deadly strike on a Peshmerga unit in southern Iraqi Kurdistan, which killed two members of the Kurdish security force. Even the Afghan affiliate of Daesh has become emboldened in recent days, claiming responsibility for a rocket attack against Bagram Air Base, the largest US base in Afghanistan. American officials reported no casualties or damage in that attack.

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently commented that the effort to minimize the exposure of US troops to coronavirus in Iraq should not impact anti-ISIS operations there. But it’s clear that what remains of the brutal al-Qaeda offshoot seeks to exploit a Middle East that continues to reel from a wave of coronavirus infections that have weakened their regional adversaries - namely Iran.

FAI field teams continue to coordinate with authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan to blunt the spread of the deadly virus, a successful effort that has minimized the number of COVID-19 deaths in Kurdistan to 4, when compared with over 4,000 reported deaths in neighboring Iran. We ask our global friends and partners to continue in prayer for our teams, their Kurdish neighbors, and Coalition forces in the region. We pray for a hedge of protection around those who are working for peace and justice in the Middle East, for the plots and schemes of wicked men to be exposed and thwarted, and for our hearts to be emboldened to meet the challenges of both human and viral killers with the Good News of Great Joy for all the world.