Syrian Troops Kill 58 ISIS Fighters at Deir Ezzor Airbase

ISIS Launched Another Failed Attack on Airbase

ISIS has controlled materially the entire Deir Ezzor Province in eastern Syria for over a year now, minus a single important airbase which has remained under the control of Syrian troops. Over the weekend, ISIS pushed into the airbase agian, and was again repelled.

Reports from Syria’s state news agency said 58 ISIS were killed in the fighting in and around the airbase, and also killed dozens of other ISIS fighters in areas of Deir Ezzor along the Iraqi border. There were no details of the Syrian military’s casualties in the fighting.

In other provinces, ISIS eventually was able to surround and capture those last few pockets of military resistance, but the Deir Ezzor base has sustained several such offensives, sometimes with the military sustaining significant casualties in the process, but always retaining control.

ISIS has pushed deeper into Syria, and the Deir Ezzor base has gotten further away from the front lines, but has remained a target, and one ISIS will likely continue to push against at every opportunity.

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.