At least 30 killed in an Islamic State ambush against a bus in the Syrian desert 

At least 28 people died and another eight were injured on Wednesday in Syria in an ambush by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) against the bus in which they were traveling on the road that connects the eastern province of Deir al Zur with western Homs.

A Syrian military source in Deir al Zur who requested anonymity told Efe that the victims are “civilians” and that the attack was perpetrated by “remnants” of the IS at the height of Kobajjep, in the desert of the center of the country, where a clashes often occur with troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad.

Most of the wounded are in serious condition with third degree burns or gunshot wounds, for which they have been transferred to the Homs Military Hospital, the source said, adding that this is the first action of such magnitude since the Syrian Army took control of Deir al Zur in 2018.

However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement that the attack targeted three vehicles carrying Syrian soldiers back home for the New Year, while raising the death toll to 30 and the wounded. to 15.

According to the tally of the UK-based NGO and a wide network of collaborators on the ground, in the last twelve months terrorist training has killed 780 members of Syrian troops and their allied militias in the desert. from the center of the country, not counting those of today.

Among the casualties inflicted by the IS with its ambushes and attacks in this vast area, the Observatory counted 108 foreigners affiliated with pro-Iranian militias, while the jihadist group lost 507 fighters in clashes, operations and bombings of the Syrian and Russian aviation, allied of the Government of Al Asad.

On March 23, 2019, the Islamic State was territorially defeated in its last stronghold in eastern Syria, some five years after the expansion of the “caliphate”, although it still maintains some positions in areas of the Syrian desert and at points of various provinces of the country.