ISIS Sergap Bus Syrian Army: 23 Soldiers Killed And 10 Injured

ISIS illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA)

JAKARTA - At least 23 Syrian soldiers were killed and more than 10 injured as ISIS fighters ambushed a bus they were traveling in in eastern Syria, war monitoring groups said.

The attack, which was the deadliest attack this year, took place near Al Mayadeen in the desert province of Deir Ezzor, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

The war monitoring group said the death toll was likely to rise, with the status of dozens of unidentified Syrian soldiers.

Meanwhile, Syria's official news agency Sana said "a number of military personnel were killed and others injured" in a "terrorist attack", citing a military source.

Syrian government forces and pro-Iran armed groups allied with the Syrian government deployed in Deir Ezzor were on standby on Friday morning, the SOHR said.

The area was once controlled by ISIS, when the group took control of several areas in eastern Syria and northern Iraq.

However, since losing the territory they control - in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019 - the extremist group has returned to being rebels with underground cells.

The control in Deir Ezzor itself is divided between Syrian forces, supported by Iran, Russia, and the Lebanese Hezbollah. On the other hand, there is a group of Kurdish-led fighters, supported by the United States and other western allies.

ISIS itself in recent weeks has stepped up its attacks in northern and northeastern Syria.

Thursday's attack was the third attack by ISIS this month, amid the rise of the extremist group.

Also this week, 10 Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters were killed in an ISIS attack on the former Raqa Province defense camp, SOHR said.

Last week, ISIS attacked a convoy of oil tankers guarded by soldiers in the Syrian desert. The attack killed seven people, including two civilians.

Last month, ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing in Damascus that killed at least six people near Sayyida Zainab's tomb in the capital, Syria's most visited Shiite pilgrimage.