Elite Syrian Army unit parachutes into Palmyra countryside

The Syrian Arab Army’s 800th Regiment of the Republican Guard’s paratrooper division was deployed to the western countryside of Palmyra on Thursday morning after another powerful attack by the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham” (ISIS) threatened the strategic T-4 Military Airport.

The 800th Regiment, which is rarely used by the Syrian Army’s High Command, parachuted into the western outskirts of the T-4 Military Airport on Thursday after the Palmyra-Homs Road was closed by the government due to the security threat posed by ISIS.

Alongside the forces already stationed at the military installation, the 800th Regiment drove back the attacking Islamic State terrorists, killing more than 70 (latest estimate) of their combatants before securing the entire area.

The 800th Regiment would later carry out the counter-attack that allowed the Syrian Armed Forces to clear the outskirts of the T-4 Airport on Thursday night.