It has taken the Syrian Armed Forces almost two months to see the outskirts of the ancient city of Palmyra in east Homs; however, after a tug-of-war battle with the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) in the eastern countryside of the province, the Syrian Arab Army’s “Tiger Forces” – alongside the 67th Brigade of the 18th Tank Division – have finally advanced within 8 kilometers of the city’s outskirts.
On Tuesday afternoon, the SAA’s 67th Brigade launched a counter-assault at the town of Al-Bayarat after the militants from ISIS stormed the villages in the vicinity of the Tiyas Military Airbase and the T-4 Pumping Station to the west of Palmyra.
With ISIS occupying the eastern sector of the town, the SAA’s Tiger Forces and 67th Brigade took advantage of the terrorist group’s negligence and carried out a powerful assault that resulted in the Syrian Armed Forces taking full control of Al-Bayarat before nightfall on Tuesday.
The Syrian Armed Forces did not stop there: on Wednesday morning, the Tiger Forces and their allies attacked a number of sites under the control of ISIS in the Palmyra countryside, killing scores of enemy combatants, while also destroying the terrorist group’s command-and-control center at Jabal Al-Qal’at (Castle Mountains).
In a matter of four short hours, the Syrian Armed Forces took control of Jabal Al-Qal’at, Burj Al-Ishara, Thaniyah Al-Rajmat, Bathar Al-Mazra’, Abu Al-Fawaress Quarries, Rawisiyah Abu Al-Fawaress, and Dhuhour Al-Hayal, killing over 40 enemy combatants and wounding 90 plus militants in the process of capturing these sites in the Palmyra countryside.
To top off their successful day in the Palmyra countryside, the Syrian Armed Forces captured the strategic hill at Tal Al-Maramleh, which is located 11km west of the ancient city.
