Last night, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) launched a powerful assault on the Homs-Salamiyah Highway in order to cutoff the Syrian Armed Forces’ strategic supply route from their stronghold in the Homs Governorate to their embattled soldiers that are currently entrenched around the Al-Salamiyah District’s eastern outskirts.
ISIS’ surprise assault at the town of Saleem was conducted at Midnight on Tuesday night, as a large wave of armed combatants swarmed this area under the control of the National Defense Forces (NDF), only to withdraw a few hours after their reinforcements were unable to reach their frontlines due to the persistent airstrikes from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF).
Following their late night attack, the militants from ISIS regrouped and launched another assault near the imperative city of Al-Salamiyah on Tuesday morning; this time, the targets were the little towns of ‘Ayn Al-Nisr, Tal ‘Umri, and Al-Quneitrat, which are all located on the Homs-Salamiyah Highway in the eastern countryside of the Hama Governorate.
Despite the tenacity of the ISIS assault in southeastern Hama, the Syrian Armed Forces were able to withstand their ground – with help from the Syrian Air Forces – and push back the terrorist group after a two hour battle on Tuesday morning.
