On Tuesday morning, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) launched its first attack on the Syrian Arab Army’s defensive barriers at the Deir Ezzor Military Airport this month, targeting the guard posts from the nearby farms that surround the eastern perimeter of the base.

The terrorist group stormed the Syrian Armed Forces’ defenses at the Deir Ezzor Military Airport with a convoy of armored vehicles that were hell-bent on bypassing the latter’s checkpoints in order to reach the eastern gates.

However, as the ISIS militants inched closer to the Syrian Arab Army’s checkpoints outside of the military airport, they came under heavy fire from the SAA’s 137th Artillery Brigade of the 17th Reserve Division and the National Defense Forces stationed nearby.

Caught off-guard by the 137th Brigade’s defenses, the encroaching enemy combatants became in disarray after four of their armored vehicles – mounted with 23mm anti-aircraft machine guns – were destroyed by Syrian Armed Forces.

Following the destruction of their armored vehicles, the ISIS fighters engaged the Syrian Armed Forces in a violent confrontation that resulted in the death of 16 of the terrorist group’s fighters, including a half dozen foreign fighters from Egypt and Libya.

In addition to their failed assault on the Deir Ezzor Military Airport, the terrorist group targeted the Syrian Armed Forces’ frontline positions at the village of Al-Jafra, where they also failed to advance past the latter’s defenses.