(UnitedVoice.com) – Syria is a hotbed of religious extremism. The Islamic State (IS) is very active in the country despite the efforts of the US and its allies. That was evident from a terrorist attack that took place recently.
On August 10, gunmen attacked vehicles carrying Syrian soldiers on a desert road near the town of Mayadeen in Deir el-Zour, a region on the border of Iraq. The initial death toll was 23, with 10 soldiers injured. However, by August 13, those 10 wounded soldiers had succumbed to their injuries, bringing the death toll to 33, according to the Syrian Observatory based in Britain. Another organization put the death toll at 35. All of the soldiers were part of the Syrian army’s 17th Division.
IS has taken responsibility for the ambush in a statement the day after the attack. The Associated Press reported the terrorist organization attacked two trucks carrying the soldiers. They reportedly used a variety of weapons to carry out the assault. The group said it was showing its “allegiance” to its leaders by carrying out “deeds” and not using their words. They vowed the fight would continue “until Doomsday.”
The attack came a week after the group announced its leader, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, was killed while fighting with an al-Qaeda-linked group. He was the fourth leader to lose his life since the organization’s founder detonated a suicide vest during a raid ordered by former President Donald Trump in 2019.
The latest attack was one of the deadliest to take place this year. IS terrorists are very active along the Syrian border with Iraq. The organization’s sleeper cells have taken up residence in the region since declaring a caliphate, a political-religious state, in 2014. The terrorists once controlled huge swaths of territory in Iraq but were pushed out during an offensive by the US military. They’ve been unable to regain the control they once had but continue to commit acts of terror.
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