Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a deadly bus attack in Syria

Eleven soldiers and two civilians were killed in today’s attack on a bus in Raqqa in northern Syria, according to the country’s Ministry of Defense, after which the jihadist organization Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bloodshed. The official Syrian news agency SANA reported that the attack took place in the Jabal al-Bisri district.

According to the announcement of the Ministry of Defense, 11 soldiers and two civilians were killed in the “terrorist attack” against the bus. Three other soldiers were injured, he added.

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for the attack on Telegram.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack was carried out by dormant Islamic State cells, which launched surprise attacks in the country’s desert areas.

The civil war that has been raging in Syria for 11 years has divided the country into various zones of control, with government forces and their allies retaining control over most of the territory.

Part of northwestern Syria is controlled by Turkish-backed rebels, while the northeast is dominated by Kurdish forces backed by the United States.

In December 2020, 28 people were killed in an ambush by a bus in Deir al-Zor province.

Last January, riots broke out in prisons where extremist suspects are being held for links to the Islamic State. The mass escape was prevented by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Kurdish fighters, with the help of American forces.

Last week, the US-led military alliance fighting the jihadists in Syria announced the arrest of a senior Islamic State official.

Source: AMPE