In the ancient Syrian desert between Palmyra and Al-Sukhna — lands that have witnessed the rise and fall of empires across millennia — Russian warplanes struck Islamic State cave hideouts on the night of January 12, killing eleven fighters in retaliation for IS attacks that had claimed eight pro-regime lives the day before. The exchange is a reminder that the formal collapse of the caliphate in 2019 did not extinguish the movement, only drove it underground, where it persists as a shadow of its former self yet still capable of lethal disruption. What unfolds in this desert is not a final chapt
Russian airstrikes kill 11 IS fighters in eastern Syria desert
11 IS fighters killed and approximately 20 wounded; 8 pro-regime fighters killed and 19 wounded in preceding IS attacks on Wednesday.
The remnants continue to harass Syrian forces from desert hideouts
Mark
So Russia is flying these strikes themselves, not just supporting Syrian forces?
Mimi
Yes, Russia has been conducting its own air campaign in the Syrian desert since 2015. These particular strikes are part of a broader effort to degrade IS remnants that have regrouped in remote areas.
Luke
Though we should note the Observatory is the only source here. We don't have independent confirmation of the casualty figures or even that the strikes happened—we're relying on one monitoring organization.
Mark
Why does IS keep attacking if they've been so badly weakened?
Mimi
They're trying to demonstrate they're still a force, still capable of striking. It also helps them recruit and maintain morale among their remaining fighters. And they need to generate revenue through these operations.
Luke
The source says they're attempting to secure funding through trafficking and racketeering, but that's framed as what observers warn about, not what's confirmed. We don't have specifics on their actual financial operations.
Mark
How many IS fighters are actually left in Syria?
Mimi
The Observatory doesn't give a total number. We know they've lost 1,128 since 2019, but that doesn't tell us the current size of the organization.
Luke
Right. We know the scale of losses but not the current strength. That's an important gap. The story suggests they're weakened but persistent, but we don't have hard numbers on how many are actually operating.
Mark
Is this cycle going to continue indefinitely?
Mimi
That seems to be the pattern so far. The group retreats, regroups, strikes, and gets struck back. Without a political settlement or a change in the underlying conditions that allow them to operate, it's hard to see an endpoint.
Luke
Though we should be careful not to predict. The source material doesn't address what might break this cycle or what conditions might change it. We're describing what's happening now, not forecasting.
Il Polso
- Islamic State fighters struck twice in a single day — killing five soldiers near the Iraqi border at AlBukamal and three more in Deir Ezzor province, burning some bodies in a deliberate act of brutality.
- Russian warplanes responded overnight, hitting cave systems sheltering IS remnants in one of the deadliest strikes since November, killing eleven and wounding roughly twenty.
- The Observatory's director has already counted 229 Russian strikes in the Syrian desert in the first weeks of 2022 alone, signaling an intensifying aerial campaign rather than a winding-down conflict.
- Beneath the strike-and-retaliate rhythm lies a deeper alarm: IS cells are reportedly rebuilding financial networks through trafficking and racketeering, quietly laying groundwork for potential resurgence.
- The toll since the caliphate's fall in 2019 — over 1,600 pro-regime dead, more than 1,100 IS fighters killed — speaks to a war of attrition that grinds on without resolution in sight.
In the ancient Syrian desert between Palmyra and Al-Sukhna — lands that have witnessed the rise and fall of empires across millennia — Russian warplanes struck Islamic State cave hideouts on the night of January 12, killing eleven fighters in retaliation for IS attacks that had claimed eight pro-regime lives the day before. The exchange is a reminder that the formal collapse of the caliphate in 2019 did not extinguish the movement, only drove it underground, where it persists as a shadow of its former self yet still capable of lethal disruption. What unfolds in this desert is not a final chapter but an unresolved one — a grinding, cyclical violence between a diminished but resilient insurgency and the forces arrayed against it.
Russian warplanes struck Islamic State cave hideouts in the desert between Palmyra and Al-Sukhna on the night of January 12, killing eleven fighters and wounding around twenty, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The strikes were a direct response to IS attacks the previous day that killed eight pro-regime fighters across two locations — five near the Iraqi border city of AlBukamal, where militants also burned some of the bodies, and three more in Deir Ezzor province.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman described the overnight operation as the deadliest Russian strike against IS since November, when sixteen militants were killed. He had already counted 229 Russian strikes in the Syrian desert in the opening weeks of 2022, reflecting the relentless pace of the current campaign.
The broader numbers reveal a war of slow attrition. Since the caliphate's territorial collapse in March 2019 — the end of a proto-state that once governed millions across Syria and Iraq — pro-regime forces have lost over 1,600 fighters, while IS has suffered more than 1,100 killed. The group has been reduced from city-holding power to scattered desert cells, yet it has not vanished.
Security analysts warn that IS is quietly attempting to rebuild its financial base through trafficking and racketeering, activities that could fuel a future resurgence. The cycle of IS attacks followed by Russian airstrikes followed by more IS attacks suggests that while the scale of this conflict has shrunk dramatically, its resolution remains as distant as the desert horizon.
Russian warplanes struck Islamic State hideouts in eastern Syria's desert on the night of January 12, killing eleven fighters and wounding roughly twenty others, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The strikes targeted cave systems in the arid terrain between Palmyra and Al-Sukhna, areas where the militant group has long sheltered its remaining forces.
The airstrikes came in direct response to a pair of IS attacks that unfolded the previous day. On Wednesday, Islamic State fighters assaulted a pro-regime position in AlBukamal, a city near the Iraqi border, killing five government-aligned soldiers and wounding fourteen. Hours earlier, another IS attack in Deir Ezzor province killed three more pro-regime fighters and wounded five. The Observatory noted that militants burned some of the bodies after the AlBukamal assault—a detail that underscores the brutality of the ongoing desert conflict.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who directs the Britain-based Observatory, said the overnight strikes represented the deadliest Russian operation against IS targets since November, when airstrikes killed sixteen militants. He has been tracking Russian air activity closely: by mid-January, he had counted 229 Russian strikes against targets in the Syrian desert already in 2022, a pace that reflects the intensity of the current campaign.
The numbers tell a larger story about the grinding attrition of this conflict. Since March 2019, when the Islamic State's territorial caliphate formally collapsed, pro-regime forces have suffered 1,636 killed, while IS militants have lost 1,128. The group that once controlled vast swaths of Syria and Iraq, administering millions of people, has been reduced to scattered cells operating from remote desert positions. A multinational military effort led by Syrian and Iraqi forces, backed by the United States and allied powers, dismantled the proto-state over the course of years of fighting.
But the remnants have not disappeared. Instead, they have retreated into the desert's cave networks and remote valleys, from which they continue to strike at government forces and their allies. Security analysts warn that the group is attempting to rebuild its financial base through trafficking and racketeering operations, activities that could lay groundwork for a resurgence. The cycle of attack and retaliation—IS strikes, followed by Russian airstrikes, followed by IS strikes again—suggests the conflict remains far from resolved, even as the scale has shrunk from the days when the caliphate held cities and territory.
Citazioni salienti
The militant organisation's members hide in caves in this area— Rami Abdel Rahman, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
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