Daesh fighters have killed nearly 4,100 people in Syria since losing their last stronghold in 2019, according to a war monitor on Saturday.
The jihadist group had overrun large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, declaring a so-called caliphate and initiating a reign of terror.
Despite losing their final Syrian territory in a 2019 Kurdish-led military campaign supported by a US-led coalition, Daesh remnants continue deadly attacks from desert hideouts.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Daesh has conducted over 2,550 operations in regime-controlled and Kurdish-administered areas since 2019, resulting in approximately 4,100 deaths.
The casualties include soldiers, government loyalists, and Kurdish-led fighters, along with 627 civilians. More than half of the victims were killed in Syria’s vast Badia desert, which stretches from Damascus to the Iraqi border.
The Observatory noted that 2,744 people have been killed in the Syrian desert by Daesh since its formal collapse in 2019, with more than 2,500 government loyalists and soldiers among the dead.
The report highlighted the near-daily bombings, ambushes, and surprise attacks by the jihadists in the region.
Periodic security campaigns by regime forces and loyalist groups, along with near-daily Russian airstrikes, have inflicted significant losses on Daesh, including over 2,000 fighters and top leaders since 2019.
A United Nations report in January estimated Daesh’s strength in Iraq and Syria to be between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters, with the Badia serving as a key logistical and operational hub in Syria.
Syria’s conflict has resulted in over half a million deaths and displaced millions since it began in March 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
