The attack took place in the eastern city of Al-Sukhna. The terrorists were on motorcycles.
At least 53 people were killed in an attack by the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria, according to activists and state media. The attack took place in the eastern city of Al-Suchna, state agency SANA and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported late on Friday. It was initially unclear whether the attackers shot their victims or killed them with explosives.
The terrorists were armed and on motorcycles, observatory head Rami Abdel-Rahman told the German news agency. First, IS fighters attacked a checkpoint and killed at least seven soldiers, then killed 46 civilians. According to the activists and Sana, people collected truffles near the deserted town before the attack. According to the observatory, several terrorists also managed to escape, along with some victims.
US wants high-ranking IS killed
Al-Suchna is located in the central province of Homs and became a strategically important stronghold for IS in 2015, before Syrian government troops drove the terrorist militia there two years later. Years ago, IS controlled large swaths of Syria and neighboring Iraq. In the meantime, IS has been defeated militarily, but there are still active terrorist cells in both countries carrying out attacks.
Shortly before the attack became known, the US Department of Defense announced that the US military had killed a high-ranking member of ISIL in a helicopter strike in northeast Syria.
(APA/dpa)