ISIS attack in Syria leaves more than 60 people dead.

 

File photo of US Troops in Syria. France24/AP.

An ISIS attack in Syria has left 68 people dead. AFP. 61 of the dead were civilians and the rest were Assad regime soldiers. The attackers shot at people while mounted on bikes. The civilians were largely truffle hunters who harvest the fungus between February and April. The attack was the deadliest ISIS attack in Syria since the attack on a prison in Hasakeh last year. This attack occurred in the southwest of Syria near the town of al-Sokhna. ISIS has not been the powerhouse they once were in the region and have largely retreated to the desserts, though they still occasionally launch attacks in Syria and Iraq. 

My Comment:

An ISIS leader was also killed in the opposite part of Syria, northeast. Supposedly this leader blew himself up during a raid that was targeting him and four US soldiers and a working dog were injured in the blast. That incident had nothing to do with this one but it does show that ISIS is still around and still making news. 

What struck me with this incident is that it was in Southwest Syria, which really doesn't seem to be where most of their recent operations have been. ISIS was traditionally strong in the northeastern part of the country, though they did have some territory in the southwest as well. It appears the regime does not hold the area there as strongly as I once thought. 

The attack appears to be a fairly effective one. Mounted troops can rapidly attack and are fast enough that they can get away after shooting their targets. It's unclear from the articles I have seen if this was a single attack targeting one group of people or multiple ones but either way using bikes like this is a low tech but effective way to kill large numbers of people at once. 

ISIS has largely fallen out of the news but they are still a problem in Syria and Iraq. They are nowhere near as powerful as they were during their peak but they are still capable of carrying out attacks. I don't think they are going to be taking and holding territory like they did in the middle of last decade but they could present a regional risk of more attacks like this. 

Still, it's very possible that ISIS could make a resurgence. Syria itself is no longer important on the main stage and Ukraine is taking away a lot of the attention ISIS would normally get. Some people even think that ISIS is a solved problem and not something we need to worry about anymore. I disagree as they have proven to be remarkably resilient and it wouldn't take much for them to rebuild what they have lost...