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17 Syrian soldiers were killed or wounded on December 20 when an roadside bomb hit a shuttle bus that was transporting them near the T3 Pumping Station in the eastern countryside of Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The London-based monitoring group said that the attack was orchestrated by ISIS. The terrorist group has been waging an insurgency in central Syria for years. Its cells have been especially active in the eastern Homs countryside.
Initially, the SOHR reported that seven were killed and ten others were wounded in the attack. However, on December 21 it said one of the wounded died, which raised the death toll to eight.
In recent weeks, ISIS cells stepped up their attacks in the central region. On November 8, 34 Syrian troops were killed in a large-scale attack that targeted several military positions between the town of al-Sukhnah in the eastern Homs countryside and the town of Resafa in the southern countryside of Raqqa.
The Syrian Arab Army responded with a series of combing operations in the region. The Russian Aerospace Forces also carried out several waves of airstrikes against ISIS cells and the hideouts there.
According to the SOHR, 407 pro-government fighters, 46 terrorists of ISIS and 167 civilians have been killed in central Syria since the start of the year.
Despite recent efforts, ISIS insurgency in central Syria will not likely end any time soon. The terrorist group’s cells in the region are likely receiving support from their comrades in the northeastern region and the southeastern area of al-Tanf, which are controlled by the United States-led coalition and its proxies.
