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العربية
Assad regime and the Coalition have recently exchanged accusations following airstrikes targeting regime–held al Saiqa military camp near the village of Aysah in Deir Ezzor province .
Assad held the US–led international coalition responsible for the air raid attack on the military camp but Col. Steve Warren,A spokesman for the U.S-led military coalition in Iraq and Syria; denied any targeting of regime forces in the region.
” the coalition had carried out four strikes in Deir Ezzor on Sunday, but that all of them targeted oil infrastructure and that the U.S. military had “no indication any Syrian soldiers were near our strikes.” He said.
The regime confirmed the deaths of at least 4 of its soldiers and injuries of 13 others in addition to the destruction of two armored vehicles following the US–led airstrikes against al Saiqa military camp in Deir Ezzor.Moreover,Pro regime social media pages posted pictures of what they called the aftermath of the coalition bombardment of the regime held military camp.
It should be noted that it is the first incident of its type in which coalition warplanes targeted Assad forces since US and allied countries began bombing ISIS more than a year ago.
Regime-held al Saiqa military camp is located 5km west of the city of Deir Ezzor in an area near the Euphrates River,regime arms depots and the village of Ayash.It is a key stronghold for Assad regime as it is the main defense line of its controlled areas in the region including the arms depots and the radio station located at the entrance of the village of al Bughayliya.
FSA attacked al saiqa military camp with mortar rounds and also granted a safe passage for more than 15 Assad defectors in the area in 17.2.2015.On the other hand,in the beginning of the year 2014 ISIS launched an offensive called ”battle of al Khayr” and was able to stom the military camp but It retreated after few hours as regime forces inflicted heavy losses upon the group.
After that ,FSA along with other islamist groups like Nusra and Ahrar Sham attempted to storm the military camp for a second time but their plan coincided with ISIS military operations targeting the rebels in the area, consequently Assad regime took advantage and was able to secure its military camp by setting up several checkpoints and fortifying berms arround it which made it so difficult for the military factions to storm the camp again.
ISIS gained full control over the western countryside of Deir Ezzor in 19.7.2014 and it launched 3 ground offensives in an attempt to take over regime –held al Saiqa military camp but all of the offensives turned into failure.In addition,ISIS launched another military operation against the camp from the village of al Muyahmida but regime dealt quite harshly with the attack as it heavily bombarded the village of al Muhaymida utilizing rocket launchers and tanks which caused mass displacement in the area.
