New Syrian army soldiers stand next to rocket launchers. AP
In a statement published by its affiliated Amaq news agency, and reported by Syrian state TV, IS said its fighters ambushed a security patrol near the southern bridge of Maaret al-Numan using automatic weapons, killing four personnel, wounding a fifth, and damaging the patrol vehicle. The group said the attackers withdrew without losses.
Syrian state media reported earlier that gunmen opened fire on a road security patrol in the same area on Sunday, killing four interior ministry personnel and wounding another. The interior ministry and the official SANA news agency did not initially identify the attackers.
The claim comes amid heightened security tensions following a deadly attack on a joint US-Syrian patrol near the ancient city of Palmyra on Saturday. Two US soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were killed in the assault, which US Central Command said was carried out by a lone IS gunman who was later killed.
US President Donald Trump described the Palmyra attack as “an ISIS attack against the US and Syria” and vowed “very serious retaliation.” Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani called it “a new challenge in the fight against terrorism.”
Syrian authorities later said the attacker in Palmyra was a member of the security forces who was due to be dismissed for holding extremist views. Several security personnel were arrested for questioning, and Damascus launched operations targeting IS cells across Homs province.
Despite its territorial defeat, IS is believed to retain sleeper cells and operational capacity in parts of Syria. The country formally joined the US-led international coalition against the group last month, following an improvement in relations between Damascus and Washington after the ouster of former president Bashar Al-Assad.
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