People living in villages and towns located in the eastern countryside of Sweida still feel threatened by ISIS since its latest attack on July 25, 2018, on the province. This concern comes after news on the presence of sleeper cells and a large number of ISIS militants, who have withdrawn from areas east Syria and headed towards Sweida. Local sources from the province confirmed the displacement of large numbers of families from villages and towns in Sweida’s countryside towards the province. Meanwhile, news spread on the redeployment of the terrorist organization in Sweida’s eastern desert. Fears of people living in the eastern countryside grew after elements from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) found missiles and mines in Diyatha, east of Sweida, hidden inside one of the organization’s hideouts. A leader in the province said ISIS militants were able to escape from their headquarters before the arrival of SSNP fighters, who were combing the area. He warned from the return of ISIS sleeper cells’ activity near villages in Sweida’s eastern countryside. Local factions have boosted their readiness and deployed elements and patrols in the eastern countryside, a source close to local factions in Sweida told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that they have finally conducted combing operations deep in the plains adjacent to the villages of the eastern countryside. He explained that these operations were meant to target any movement in the depth of the desert and deal with any suspected mobile target. Local factions didn’t leave their observatories in the eastern areas and were continuing their monitoring operations along the eastern line of the province, especially after reported ISIS movements in some desert areas, the source added. He also noted that the Syrian army was scattered over a wide area in the desert and controlled 70 percent of the area of Tulul al-Safa, near the eastern countryside and overlooking Sweida’s desert.