Since losing their last stronghold in Syria in 2019, Islamic State fighters have carried out nearly 4,100 killings in the country, according to a report by a war monitor on June 29.
The jihadist group, known as IS, seized control of large areas in Syria and Iraq in 2014, declaring a so-called caliphate and unleashing a wave of terror in June of that year.
Although the group lost its final territories in Syria in March 2019 in a military campaign led by Kurds and supported by a US-led coalition, remnants of IS continue to launch deadly attacks from hidden locations in the desert.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that IS fighters have killed around 4,100 individuals in over 2,550 operations in areas controlled by the Syrian regime or the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration since 2019.
The majority of the victims are soldiers, government supporters, and Kurdish fighters, with 627 civilians also among the casualties, the UK-based Observatory stated.
More than half of the 4,085 victims were killed in the expansive Badia desert in Syria, which stretches from the outskirts of Damascus to the border with Iraq.
The monitor revealed that a total of “2,744 people have been killed by IS in various parts of the Syrian desert since its formal collapse in 2019,” relying on information from sources within the country.
According to the Observatory, IS fighters have targeted over 2,500 government loyalists and soldiers in the Badia region since losing their caliphate, with ongoing attacks such as bombings, ambushes, and surprise assaults being reported regularly.
“Regime forces and their allies conduct security operations deep within the desert, while Russian warplanes carry out near-daily strikes in the region,” the report added.
The report also noted that IS has suffered significant losses, with over 2,000 fighters including top leaders being killed since 2019.
According to a United Nations report released in January, IS has an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, with the Badia region serving as a key logistical and operational hub for the group in Syria.
The ongoing conflict in Syria has resulted in over half a million deaths and forced millions of people to flee their homes since it began in March 2011 following the government’s violent crackdown on anti-government protests.
