ISIS Launches Flurry of Bombings Across Syria, Killing 53

Six Different Bombings Reported Across Country

Over the past couple of weeks, ISIS has found itself increasingly forgotten in Syria, with the focus on Turkey’s invasion, on Nusra’s fighting in Aleppo, and on Kurdish expansion around the Euphrates River. Today, ISIS looked to reassert themselves with a flurry of simultaneous attacks, killing at least 53 people according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

The attacks involved six different bombings and hit pretty much every major target around in Syria, from the coastal city of Tartus to the northeastern city of Qamshili, along with Homs, Hasakeh, and all the way down to the suburbs of the capital city of Damascus.

This meant targeting several areas well outside of ISIS’ traditional areas in influence in Syria, and included some heavily guarded areas. The Damascus-area strike, for instance, hit a military checkpoint in a suburb that houses many Syrian military officers and their families.

The blasts targeted both the Syrian military and sites belonging to the Kurdish YPG. Notably, none of the attacks went after territory seized by Turkey and its allies, which over the weekend took materially ISIS’ entire border region between Syria and Turkey.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.