Five Syrian army soldiers were killed Sunday when a bomb exploded in the eastern part of the country where jihadists are active, following the death of 13 fighters of the Bashar al-Assad regime in an attack, the NGO said.
The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a Syrian police recruiting center, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. According to the same source, one of the dead was a high-ranking military man, he had the rank of general. The bomber struck shortly after noon in the province of Deir ez-Zor, according to the British-based non-governmental organization, which has a wide network of sources in the war-torn country.
Despite the overwhelming defeat in Syria in March 2019, when its “caliphate” collapsed, the Islamic State (IS) organization continues to carry out deadly attacks, especially in the vast Badiyah from the central province of Homs to Deir ez-Zor.
On Saturday, at least 13 fighters fighting on the side of the regime were killed when they fell into an ambush by IS jihadists in the desert-covered Masrib area, west of Deir ez-Zor, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
As of March 2019, nearly 1,600 members of the Syrian army or paramilitary groups fighting alongside him, as well as 153 pro-Iranian foreign fighters, have been killed in various attacks, bombings or IS ambushes, according to the NGO count.
The extremely complex war in Syria, which erupted in March 2011 to quell demonstrations centered on democratization, has since claimed the lives of at least half a million people and uprooted millions more, displacing them internally displaced and refugees.
