At least 5 dead in an attack by the Islamic State against a military convoy in Syria

The convoy included several tankers loaded with oil and was attacked on the road that connects the town of Salamiya, in Hama, with the neighboring province of Al Raqa, the NGO, based in the United Kingdom and with an extensive network, said in a statement. of collaborators on the ground.

In addition to killing five members of the convoy and wounding four others, the attackers burned some of the vehicles.

The Observatory attributed responsibility for the attack to the Islamic State, although neither the jihadist group nor any other group has yet claimed responsibility for it.

IS was territorially defeated in the Arab country more than four years ago, but it still maintains active cells in various parts of the country, concentrated mainly in the vast central desert of Badia.

The desert region, which extends across several Syrian provinces and beyond the nation's borders, is often the scene of jihadist ambushes against Syrian government troops stationed there and also of attacks by them against the terrorist formation.

Russian aviation, an ally of Damascus, also often participates in anti-terrorist operations in Badia, offering air support to the Syrian Army.

According to data from the Observatory, so far this year 367 people have died in that desert in different operations, including 192 Syrian soldiers and members of the militias that support them. EFE