At least nine people, including seven soldiers of the Syrian regime, were killed Sunday evening in an attack by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) on a bus on the road connecting Raqa (north) to the capital Damascus, an NGO reported.
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According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), the ambush also left two civilians dead as well as 16 injured, including four civilians.
The attack, the second of its kind in less than a week, targeted a bus carrying soldiers "
and probably some of their relatives
" who brought them home, told AFP the director of OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahmane.
The official Sana news agency for its part indicated that "
nine civilians
" had been killed and four others wounded in a "
terrorist attack
" on a bus on the Raqa highway.
Citing a local source, the pro-regime daily Al-Watan said clashes took place in the wake of the attack between jihadists and Syrian soldiers.
IS has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
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On December 30, 39 soldiers - including eight officers - were killed and a dozen wounded in an ambush - claimed by ISIS - aimed at soldiers who were on a bus in the province from Deir Ezzor (east).
Despite being routed in March 2019 with the fall of its "
caliphate
", ISIS continues to launch deadly attacks in Syria, particularly in the vast Badiya desert which stretches from the central province of Homs to that of Deir Ezzor, on the border with Iraq, where the jihadists are also rife.
In recent months, the Badiya has been the scene of regular fighting between jihadists and regime forces, supported by airstrikes from the Russian ally.
Since March 2019, these clashes have claimed the lives of more than 1,300 Syrian soldiers and pro-Iranian militiamen, as well as more than 600 ISIS jihadists, according to an OSDH report.
The Syrian conflict, triggered in 2011 by the crackdown on pro-democracy protests, has left more than 387,000 dead and displaced millions of people.
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