Attackers attacked a convoy of buses carrying oil workers on Friday in an area in eastern Syria where the Islamic State terrorist group is active, killing at least 10 people, according to the authorities. State media agencies and groups monitor the ongoing conflict in the country.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which is located in an area controlled by the Syrian government. However, according to monitoring groups, the Islamic State has increased attacks in eastern Syria over the past year.
Islamic State lost the last territory in his self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq three years ago, but managed to maintain sleeping cells in Syria. It regularly strikes targets including the Syrian government and US-backed Kurdish fighters. The United States maintains a military presence in areas of eastern Syria.
Friday’s attack came a day after the Pentagon’s Central Command, which oversees US troops in Syria, said the United States and its partners had killed 466 Islamic State elements. in Syria this year and at least 220 others in neighboring Iraq.
Omar Abu Layla, executive director of Deir Ezzor 24, a Syria-focused news and analysis organization, said: “ISIS is always trying to prove to its supporters and members that they are still present. and they can get anywhere they want.” the eastern province of Deir al Zour. “This is a clear message from group to group.”
The attack began when an explosive device exploded, targeting three buses carrying workers to the al-Taym oil field in Deir al Zour province. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, the attackers then opened fire on the buses. The Observatory reported that 12 workers were killed, although state media put the damage figure at 10.
Abu Layla said Islamic State attacks often target buses, but often vehicles transporting soldiers.
He added that another reason behind the attack could be increasing tensions between the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which has regained control over most of the country after more than a decade. century of war, and the United States military, maintain several bases in eastern Syria.
The oil field the workers are heading to is under the control of the Syrian government, which controls only a few of the country’s oil and natural gas fields. Those sitting east of the Euphrates River are held by the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a group that controls much of northeastern Syria.
Although the complex and multi-dimensional Syrian war has morphed into a low-level conflict, occasional flare-ups of airstrikes and guerrilla attacks continue. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says nearly 450 people have been killed in this year’s conflict in the desert areas of central and eastern Syria, believed to be home to many Islamic State jihadists. .
This month, the US military said it had made two attacks against the Islamic State in eastern Syria, kill or capture agents.
General Michael E. Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement this month that the raids “reaffirm Centcom’s steadfast commitment to the region and long-standing defeat.” length of IS”. “The capture of these IS agents will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to continue to plot and carry out destabilizing attacks.”
In Syria, US forces have carried out 14 unilateral strikes against Islamic State this year, along with 108 others, the Central Command report released on Thursday said. with the coordination of their partners. In Iraq, American forces and their partners in the Iraqi security forces have carried out 191 operations against the group.
More than 160 Islamic State members have been killed in Russian airstrikes on the group’s desert hideout this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. And more than 260 government soldiers and pro-government militiamen were killed in 103 Islamic State attacks.
Syria’s oil and mineral resources minister, Bassam Tohme, said the country was suffering an oil crisis and blamed terrorist groups and the “American occupation” for cutting off available oil. are necessary to ensure the minimal needs of the Syrian people, according to the Syrian state media. .
