Syria: Dozens killed as Islamic State group clashes with government forces
Clashes between the Islamic State (IS) group and Russia-backed Syrian government forces and have killed more than 50 fighters on both sides in two days, a Britain-based war monitor said on Saturday.
Fighting and Russian air strikes in the central desert province of Homs since late Thursday have claimed the lives of 20 pro-government and 31 IS fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“The fighting started in the night of Thursday to Friday with a jihadist assault on regime positions” near the town of Al-Sukhna, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said, as cited by AFP.
IS fighters have retained a roving presence in Syria’s vast Badia desert, despite losing their last shred of territory last year. They regularly carry out attacks there as well as in neighbouring Iraq.