ISIS on Thursday claimed responsibility for a bus attack in Syria the previous day, saying it had killed 40 Syrian army soldiers and badly wounded six others.
The statement was carried by the terror group’s Amaq news agency.
Syrian state media said on Wednesday that 28 people had died in an attack on a bus along a main highway in the Deir Ezzor province that borders Iraq.
A senior military defector in the area said on Wednesday the vehicle carried soldiers and pro-government militias who had finished their leave and were on their way back to their base in the desolate, sparsely populated area.
Another source told Reuters at least 30 soldiers were killed, mostly from the Syrian army’s Fourth Brigade, which has a strong presence in the rich oil-producing province since ISIS fighters were ousted at the end of 2017.
Deir Ezzor residents and intelligence sources say there has been a rise in recent months of ambushes and hit-and-run attacks by remnants of ISIS militants who hid in caves in the mainly desert region.
