At least 30 dead in attack on bus in Syrian desert
30 people were killed in an attack while traveling in a desert region between the central city of Palmyra and the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
STR / AFP
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2 min
In Syria, around 30 people were killed in an attack on the bus that carried them in a desert region between the city of Palmyra in the center, and the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
About fifteen others were injured.
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With our regional correspondent,
Paul Khalifeh
The official Syrian agency Sana claims that the victims of the attack are "
citizens
".
For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights assures us that the dead are "
soldiers who went on leave
".
Bombs exploded as a convoy of several buses passed on a desert road in central Syria.
The vehicles were then attacked with automatic weapons.
One of them was hit hard while two others managed to escape.
The ambush took place in an area where the Islamic State group is well established.
The Sana agency also stresses that "cells" of the jihadist organization are active in the sector.
In reality, it is not a question of cells, but of units, sometimes made up of dozens of well-armed combatants, and with withdrawal bases in the Badia desert, which extends from the central province of Homs. on the border with Iraq, to the east.
In November, the Syrian army launched with the support of the Russian air force a vast offensive to secure the lines of communication regularly targeted by fighters of the Islamic State group.
Since March 2019, the troops of Damascus have lost 1,300 soldiers, while the jihadists have lost 600 men in fighting in the central desert, west of the Euphrates.
►Also listen: Decryption - Is the war in Syria over?
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