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IS Clashes with Syrian Regime Kill 150 in eastern Hama
[AnNahar] Fierce festivities between the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 group and pro-regime forces in central Syria have left over 150 fighters dead in 24 hours, mostly jihadists, a monitor said Sunday.

The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 120 IS fighters "were killed in festivities in and around the town of Uqayribat in the eastern Hama countryside... along with at least 35 regime troops and loyalist militiamen."

The town is the jihadist group's last bastion in the central province apart from a handful of small villages.

Pro-government forces seized Uqayribat on Friday night, but IS responded with a counter-offensive on Saturday that left it in control of most of the town, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

An intense barrage of artillery fire and Syrian and Russian air strikes on jihadist positions allowed pro-regime forces on Sunday morning to push the jihadists back out of the town and advance on villages to the west that remain under IS control.

IS has controlled Uqayribat since 2014, using it to launch attacks on regime-held areas and a strategically vital road Abdel Rahman described as "the only lifeline for the regime between Aleppo and central and southern Syria."

Regime forces, backed by heavy Russian air strikes, launched a major assault on IS-held parts of Hama in June.

"By consolidating their control of (Uqayribat) and ousting IS from the surrounding villages, regime forces could oust the organization from the whole of Hama province," Abdel Rahman said.

Other rebel groups still control parts of the province's rural north.

Hama, which borders on six other Syrian provinces, is strategically vital to the Assad regime, separating opposition forces in Idlib from Damascus to the south and the regime's coastal heartlands to the west.

IS has suffered multiple defeats across Syria and neighboring Iraq in recent months, notably in its main Syrian base of Raqa.

On Friday a U.S.-backed Kurdish-Arab coalition seized Raqa's Old City and was advancing on the jihadists in the heavily defended city center.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began their offensive in May, capturing the city of Tabqa and a key dam nearby before entering Raqa city in early June.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake...
 pro-regime forces have advanced against IS in the eastern part of Homs province and western Deir Ezzor, where they have come to within 19 kilometers (12 miles) of the quiet provincial capital.

Syria's conflict has killed more than 320,000 people and displaced millions since it started with anti-government demonstrations in 2011.

ISIL mass retreats as Syrian Army troops secure important towns in central Syria: map

[AlMasdar] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and their allies continued their field operations around the strategic town of ’Uqayribat, Sunday, targeting the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
’s (ISIS) last positions in this region of central Syria.

Backed by the Russian Air Force, the Syrian Arab Army’s Tiger Forces and Qalamoun Shield managed to secure ’Uqayribat after inflicting heavy damage on the Islamic State’s remain positions in the eastern Hama countryside.

Following this attack, the Syrian Arab Army continued their push to Masadah and Rasm Qanbar, liberating both towns amid a mass retreat by the Islamic State from the battlefield.

According to the Syrian military, their forces killed more than 50 forces of Evil and destroyed several armored vehicles belonging to the Islamic State, paving the way for the army to liberate ’Uqayribat.

The Syrian Arab Army’s demining teams are now sweeping through ’Uqayribat to clear the entire town of mines and IEDs that were placed there before the Islamic State retreated.
Posted by: trailing wife 2017-09-04
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=496528