A unit of 60+ Russian Marines arrived to the Homs Governorate’s eastern countryside on Friday morning in order to advise and overlook the Syrian Arab Army’s counter-offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) in western Palmyra (Tadmur).

Prior to the arrival of the Russian Marines in eastern Homs, ISIS was on the offensive at the strategic villages of Al-Bayarat and Al-Dawa; however, this situation changed after the terrorist group failed to bypass the Syrian Arab Army’s frontline defenses on Thursday evening.

The following day, the Syrian Arab Army’s 67th Brigade of the 18th Tank Division and the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Homs City – under the command of the Russian Marine advisors – launched a counter-offensive at Al-Bayarat, seizing the lost territory from the ISIS terrorists in the village’s eastern countryside.

On Saturday morning in the Al-Bayarat countryside, the Syrian Arab Army’s 67th Brigade and their allies advanced to Marhatten, where they were confronted by a large contingent of ISIS terrorists that were poised to obstruct the pro-government forces from seizing this village near the ancient city of Palmyra.

Unfortunately for ISIS, the Syrian Arab Army’s 67th Brigade and their allies proved too powerful, imposing full control of Marhatten after an 8 hour battle in the vast desert landscape of east Homs.