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At least 21 pro-government fighters were killed by suspected militants of ISIS in central Syria, an opposition war monitor and pro-government media reported on April 18.
The militants attacked a bus carrying members of the Quds Brigade, a pro-government armed faction of mostly Palestinian fighters in Syria, near the town of al-Sukhna, which was once a stronghold of ISIS, in the eastern countryside of Homs.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but both the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based pro-opposition war monitor, and the pro-government radio station Sham FM said IS was behind the deadly attack.
The observatory said that 28 fighters were killed in the attack, while Sham FM put the death toll at 22 . Later, the al-Quds Brigade mourned only 21 of its fighters.
ISIS’ remaining cells in central Syria intensified attacks against both government forces and civilians with the start of the year.
In response, the Syrian Arab Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Forces launched dozens of airstrikes against the terrorist group’s cells and their hideouts in the region. Some of the more recent airstrikes targeted what the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria said were militants who came from a United States base in the southeastern Syrian area of al-Tanf.
ISIS cells have been waging an insurgency in central Syria for over six years now. The militants receive support from their comrades in the northeastern region, which is held by the U.S. and its proxies. In addition, Syrian and Russian officials have accused U.S. forces in al-Tanf of training and even arming militants, including members of ISIS.
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