Syrian troops and fighters loyal to the government were killed by Islamic State group militants in a raid on Monday night in Raqa province, where the jihadists once had their main stronghold, a war monitor reported on Tuesday.
“IS attacked positions and checkpoints belonging to the regime… setting fire to military vehicles and prefabricated houses,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The attack also left six soldiers wounded, some of them in critical condition, according to the monitor, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria.
Rural areas in the south and east of Raqa province are under the control of government troops, while the rest is held by Kurdish fighters.
The city of Raqa was the main stronghold of the IS group’s brutal “caliphate” until they were driven out in 2017.
IS announced last week that its leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi was killed in fighting in northwest Syria.
The jihadist group lost its last territory in Syria in March 2019 to a US-backed offensive led by Kurdish forces, but its remnants still launch deadly attacks from their hideouts in the vast Syrian desert.
The attacks have targeted civilians as well as government troops and fighters backed by Iran and the Kurds.
