Islamic State group fighters killed 20 Syrian soldiers and pro-government forces in attacks on Damascus-controlled areas. Sixteen regime forces and pro-government gunmen were killed in an IS attack in the eastern countryside of Homs province. Nine members of the Quds Brigade, supported by Moscow, were among the dead. Four regime forces were killed in another IS attack in the Albukamal countryside, with two taken hostage. In late March, IS militants executed eight Syrian soldiers following an ambush and killed 14 troops in prior days.
IS overran large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, proclaiming its “caliphate” and launching a reign of terror. It was defeated territorially in Syria in 2019, but its remnants continue to carry out deadly attacks, mainly targeting pro-government forces and Kurdish-led fighters in the Badia desert. Syria’s war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the government’s brutal repression of protests.
