BEIRUT (AP) – An attack on pro-government fighters by suspected members of the Islamic State group in central Syria has killed 22 pro-government fighters, the anti-government war monitor and the pro-government group say. Government media reported on Friday.
Late on Thursday night, gunmen attacked a bus carrying members of Syria's Quds Brigades, a government and Russia-backed faction made up mainly of Palestinian fighters, near the town of Sukna. Sukna was once a stronghold of IS.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Britain-based opposition war monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and pro-government radio station Sham FM said IS was behind the attack.
The Observatory and Sham FM both announced that 22 militants were killed. Sham FM said they were all Quds Brigade militants, but the Observatory said the majority belonged to the group.
The Quds Brigades fought on the side of government forces in Syria's 13-year civil war, in which 500,000 people were killed and half of the country's pre-war population of 23 million displaced.
The Quds Brigades are distinct from the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, which uses the same name.
Despite being defeated in Syria in March 2019, the IS sleeper cell is accused of carrying out deadly attacks against Syrian government forces and members of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
