Current:Home > NewsAt least 20 Syrian soldiers killed in ISIS bus ambush, activists say -Trailblazer Capital Learning
At least 20 Syrian soldiers killed in ISIS bus ambush, activists say
Burley Garcia View
Date:2025-04-09 19:17:54
Beirut — Gunmen have ambushed a bus carrying Syrian soldiers in the country's east, killing at least 20 and wounding others, opposition activists said Friday.
The Thursday night attack was believed to have been carried out by members of ISIS, whose sleeper cells in parts of Syria still carry deadly attacks despite their defeat in 2019.
Those cells often use ambushes and hit-and-run attacks, Agence France-Presse points out.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 23 Syrian soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in the attack on a desert road near the eastern town of Mayadeen in Deir el-Zour province, which borders Iraq.
AFP cites the observatory as saying, "Dozens of (other) soldiers" were missing after the attack in which the jihadists surrounded the bus and started firing.
Another activist collective that covers news in eastern Syria said 20 soldiers were killed and others were wounded.
Syrian state news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that the attack occurred Thursday night, "killing and wounding a number of soldiers." It gave no further details, nor a breakdown in the casualty numbers.
The bbservatory's Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP ISIS "has recently been escalating its deadly military attacks ... aiming to cause as many deaths as possible" as it tries to send "a message aimed at showing the group is still active and powerful despite the targeting of its leaders."
ISIS controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq, where they declared a caliphate in June 2014. Over time, they lost most of the land and were defeated in Iraq in 2017 and two years later in Syria.
In one of their deadliest in a year, ISIS sleeper cells attacked workers collecting truffles near the central town of Sukhna in February, killing at least 53 people - mostly workers but also some Syrian government security forces.
Experts who follow Jihadi groups say it's too soon to say if the new spate of attacks marks a new resurgence by the extremists that ruled millions of people in Syria and Iraq with terror.
Last week, ISIS announced the death in Syria of its little-known leader, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi - who headed the extremist organization since November - and named his successor. He was the fourth to be killed since its founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in 2019 by U.S. troops in northwest Syria.
- In:
- ISIS
- Syria
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- How to stage a Griswold-size Christmas light display without blowing up your electric bill
- Israel orders mass evacuations as it widens offensive; Palestinians are running out of places to go
- Heavy snowfall hits Moscow as Russian media report disruption on roads and at airports
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- AP PHOTOS: 2023 was marked by coups and a Moroccan earthquake on the African continent
- The World Food Program will end its main assistance program in Syria in January, affecting millions
- Woman, 65, receives bloodless heart transplant, respecting her Jehovah's Witness beliefs
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Florida State coach Mike Norvell, AD shred committee for College Football Playoff snub
Ranking
- 'Most Whopper
- Dutch lawyers seek a civil court order to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel
- Alaska Airlines to buy Hawaiian Airlines in $1.9 billion deal
- Heavy snowfall hits Moscow as Russian media report disruption on roads and at airports
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Steelers dealt big blow as Kenny Pickett suffers ankle injury that could require surgery
- Muppets from Sesame Workshop help explain opioid addiction to young children
- Goodyear Blimp coverage signals pickleball's arrival as a major sport
Recommendation
Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
The World Food Program will end its main assistance program in Syria in January, affecting millions
Recordings show how the Mormon church protects itself from child sex abuse claims
11 bodies recovered after volcanic eruption in Indonesia, and 22 climbers are still missing
Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
Brock Purdy, 49ers get long-awaited revenge with rout of Eagles
Paris stabbing attack which leaves 1 dead investigated as terrorism; suspect arrested
Michigan takes over No. 1 spot in college football's NCAA Re-Rank 1-133