The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), alongside their allies from the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), were able to beat back a major attack by theIslamic State (IS) group in southeast Syria on Wednesday, July 4.

According to the NDF, the Islamic State launched a surprise attack on their government positions at Tal Bassir on Wednesday morning in a bid to overwhelm the latter in eastern Al-Sweida.

However, the Islamic State attack would fall short of its objective, as their terrorist combatants were spotted moving towards the government’s positions before launching the assault.

The NDF said at least one Islamic State fighter was captured during the assault, while five more were either killed or wounded.

The Islamic State has been recently launching big attacks in the eastern countryside of Al-Sweida, which have been relatively successful until Wednesday.

Last week, the Islamic State was able to recapture several points around the Safa Canyon of Al-Sweida, forcing the Syrian Army and their allies to fall back from the area.

With the Syrian Army troops mostly bogged down in southern Syria, the Islamic State has been taking advantage of their weak defenses around the eastern countryside of the Al-Sweida.