Tue 21 June 2022:
As per the Syrian Defense Ministry, at least 11 troops and two civilians were killed in an attack in northern Syria when a civilian bus was targeted on a route connecting the cities of Raqqa and Homs.
“At about 6:30 [03:30 GMT] this morning, a civilian bus was subjected to a terrorist attack on the Raqqa-Homs highway in al-Jira area,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday, adding that three other army personnel were wounded.
“The death toll is believed to rise as there are some people seriously injured,” SOHR said.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack on a civilian bus in northern Syria that killed 13 people and wounded three.
The extremist group said in a statement late Monday that its gunmen attacked the bus with automatic rifles. It also posted photos of the attack.
#Syria 🇸🇾: #ISIS militants conducted an ambush k on a bus of Syrian Army in Jabal Bishri, S. #Raqqa; killing at least 13 soldiers.
Militants have apparently used AKM rifles and at least one fairly uncommon 5.45x39mm AK(S)-74 rifle (seems to be an early model) during the ambush. pic.twitter.com/Hq7NypPulp
— War Noir (@war_noir) June 20, 2022
The armed group’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” had its capital in Raqqa.
Syrian authorities frequently blame the armed group for such attacks.
Syria’s 11-year conflict has split the country into distinct control zones, with government soldiers and allied fighters holding the majority of the country. In eastern, northern, and central Syria, ISIL sleeper cells have been active.
A patch of the northwestern territory is held by Turkish-backed opposition forces, while US-backed Kurdish-led forces hold the northeast.
Similar attacks have occurred before – one of the deadliest was in December 2020, when 28 people were killed in an attack on a bus on the main highway in Syria’s eastern Deir Az Zor province.
Syrian President Bashar —al- Assad’s regime has clawed back much of the area lost in the early phases of the conflict, which began in 2011 when the government ruthlessly suppressed pro-democracy protesters.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died as a result of the fighting, and ISIL has emerged in Syria and Iraq.
Analysts have long expected a resurgence of the group, but it has been unable to significantly expand, and its actions have generally been limited to cell strikes.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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