Beirut: Attacks by Islamic State (IS) group fighters deep in the Syrian Desert killed 27 Damascus troops and allied fighters over the past 48 hours, a monitoring group said Saturday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dead included four senior Syrian army officers.
“The Amaq propaganda arm of IS, which lost the last vestige of its ‘caliphate’ to Kurdish-led forces in eastern Syria last month but retains desert and mountain hideouts in both Syria and Iraq, said its fighters carried out the operation.
Syria had earlier stated that the IS fighters have been evicted from its territory. The attacks and deaths, however, were contrary to what the Syrian government announced, said the report.