Just one day after the Syrian military lost the key northern airbase in the Idlib Province to al-Qaeda, ISIS is looking to take their last base in the eastern Deir Ezzor Province, the latest in a series of moves against the strategically important base.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 41 fighters were killed today in the push against the base, including 18 soldiers and 23 ISIS fighters. Syrian state media did not report on the attack, and indications are that they still hold the base, for now.
Deir Ezzor Province is controlled more or less entirely by ISIS, and has been for months. The military has managed to hold the immediate vicinity around the airbase, however as ISIS encroaches closer to the field itself, the ability to use it for military flights will likely become limited.
This is just the latest in a large number of attempts on the Deir Ezzor airbase, but as the Syrian military loses ground elsewhere in the country, their ability to hold off ISIS offensives is in growing doubt everywhere in the country, including sites that they’ve traditionally managed to defend successfully.
It wont be long …