53 Dead In Quake-Hit Syria In ISIS Attack, Deadliest Ambush In Over A Year

At least 53 people were killed in central Syria in an attack blamed on ISIS. This comes after the magnitude-7.8 earthquake near Gaziantep killed more than 5,800 people in the country.

New Delhi: After the deadly Feb 6 earthquake, Syria on Friday witnessed its deadliest attack by jihadists in more than a year as at least 53 people were killed in an ambush blamed on ISIS, as per the state media. "Fifty-three citizens who were truffle hunting were killed during an attack by the terrorists of ISIS to the southwest of the town of Al-Sokhna" in the desert east of Homs, news agency AFP reported citing state television.

As per AFP's report, the director of Palmyra hospital, Walid Audi, said the deceased victims include 46 civilians and seven soldiers.

The bodies had "been brought to the hospital after the ambush" that targeted dozens, Audi told pro-government radio station Sham FM.

In another incident on Friday, the US Central Command informed that four American military personnel were injured in a blast during a raid that killed a senior ISIS leader in Syria.

The ISIS leader identified as Hamza al-Homsi was killed while the US troops and a working dog were being treated at an American medical facility in Iraq, it stated.

This comes after the magnitude-7.8 earthquake near Gaziantep that struck southeastern Turkiye and neighbouring Syria on February 6 destroyed thousands of buildings and claimed tens of thousands of lives.

According to news agency Reuters, the overall death toll caused by the earthquake has crossed the 45,000 mark as Turkiye reported 39,672 fatalities in total, making it the worst disaster in modern Turkish history. The number is expected to rise as some 264,000 apartments were lost in the quake and many people are still unaccounted for.

In Syria, however, authorities have reported more than 5,800 deaths. The death toll here has not changed for days.

As for the targeted attacks, many people, including women and children, have been targeted in recent years in similar incidents.

Sixteen people, mostly civilians, were killed on Saturday in the attack targeting foragers in the same area, AFP reported citing the Observatory, which relies on a wide network of sources on the ground in Syria.

In April 2021, ISIS launched an attack abducting 19 people, mostly civilians, in the eastern countryside of Hama province.

The ISIS remnants in Syria have mostly retreated to hideouts in the desert after the jihadists lost their last scraps of territory following a military onslaught backed by a US-led coalition in March 2019.

They use the hideouts to ambush Kurdish-led forces and Syrian government troops while continuing to mount attacks in neighbouring Iraq.

Syrian and Russian helicopters continue to target ISIS desert hideouts with air strikes.

As per the United Nations, the jihadist group has "maintained its ability to launch attacks at a steady pace" despite setbacks.

The UN estimated that ISIS maintains between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters inside Iraq and Syria as it exploites the porous border between the two countries while concentrating mainly in rural areas.