For the first time since early August of 2015, the Syrian Arab Army and their allies are overlooking the ancient Assyrian city of Quraytayn in the Homs Governorate’s southeastern countryside.

The city of Quraytayn was seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) during their summer offensive that was geared to capture the Iraqi-Syrian border in the Homs Governorate and the collection of villages and cities located along the main highway from the Iraqi province of Al-‘Anbar.

Since the fall of Quraytayn last August, the Syrian Armed Forces have been unable to advance past the Maheen-Quraytayn Checkpoint, which sits between the two aforementioned cities; this changed on Friday afternoon.

Finally, after a 5 month hiatus, the Syrian Armed Forces have returned to the outskirts of Quraytayn, leaving ISIS with their backs against the wall inside this once thriving city in the heart of southeast Homs.

The Syrian Arab Army’s 120th Brigade of the 2nd Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Sadad and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) – seized Jabal Quraytayn and the Maheen-Quraytayn Checkpoint after a series of intense firefights with the ISIS terrorists entrenched around the city’s outskirts.

With the Syrian Armed Forces on the brink of entering Quraytayn, the ISIS terrorists have issued a distress call to their fighters nearby; however, if they do not act quickly, the Syrian Arab Army could attack the city within days.