ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least 33 soldiers of the Syrian army were killed in an overnight attack by Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the countryside of the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor, a war monitor reported on Friday.
At least 10 Syrian soldiers were also wounded in the attack according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack which marks the deadliest targeting government forces this year, according to SOHR.
The militants reportedly ambushed an overnight bus belonging to the army in al-Mayadeen desert in the countryside of eastern Deir ez-Zor province.
The attack was the second of the jihadist group on the Syrian army within a week. On Tuesday, SOHR reported that ISIS killed 10 Syrian soldiers and wounded six in Raqqa.
Syrian state media, SANA, confirmed the attack without specifying the number of the casualties. It also cited the foreign ministry as blaming "the American occupation forces and their terrorist organisations" for the attack on regime forces.
After their territorial defeat in March 2019 to a military operation led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and backed by a United States-led global coalition, ISIS militants have carried out hit-and-run attacks on civilians and military targets of both the Syrian regime and the Kurdish-led authority in the northwest of the country.
According to data from SOHR, at least 188 Syrian soldiers, 157 civilians, 37 pro-Iran militia members, and 20 ISIS fighters have been killed in clashes in the Syrian desert since the start of the year.
Civil war broke out in Syria in 2011 after the government’s brutal crackdown on protests and the security situation continues to be fragile ever since.
The conflict then erupted into multiple fronts with the emergence of ISIS, constant fighting between Kurdish forces and Turkey and Turkish-backed proxies, Israeli attacks on pro-Iran factions, and tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran. Russia has also backed the Syrian government, while about a thousand US troops are stationed in Syria to fight ISIS remnants.
Updated on August 13, 2023 at 8:48am with new death toll, ISIS claim of responsibility, and Syrian foreign ministry quote
