The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the attack also resulted in six soldiers wounded, projecting the death toll to increase in the coming hours due to the severity of some of the injuries.
The militants reportedly seized control over the targeted locations for a few hours, before setting them on fire and withdrawing from the area.
After their territorial defeat in March 2019 to a military operation led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and backed by a United States-led global coalition, ISIS militants have carried out hit and run attacks on civilians and military targets of both the Syrian regime and the Kurdish-led authority in the northwest of the country.
At least 165 Syrian soldiers, 157 civilians, 37 pro-Iran militia members, and 20 ISIS fighters have been killed in clashes in the Syrian desert since the start of year, according to data from SOHR.
Civil war broke out in Syria in 2011 after the government’s brutal crackdown on protests and the security situation continues to be fragile ever since.
The conflict then erupted into multiple fronts with the emergence of ISIS, constant fighting between Kurdish forces and Turkey as well as Turkish-backed proxies, Israeli attacks on pro-Iran factions, and tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran. Russia has also backed the Syrian government, while about a thousand US troops are stationed in Syria to fight ISIS remnants.
