35 Syrian, Russian fighters killed in Islamic State attack, east of Syria: Observatory

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Around 35 personnel of the Syrian army and its backers, including nine Russian fighters, were killed in an attack by Islamic State, few days ago, east of Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In a statement, the observatory said “Islamic State fighters attacked on Wednesday a convoy for the Syrian government as well as Russian troops in southwest of al-Mayadin city, leaving 26 personnel of the Syrian troops and nine Russians killed.”

The death toll announced by the observatory came shortly after the Russian defense ministry announced on Sunday that four soldiers were killed due to an attack in Deiz Azzour city without identifying where or when the attack took place. However, Russian news agencies quoted a statement by the ministry saying that confrontations occurred after militants attacked the artillery of the Syrian government troops.

According to the ministry, two of the Russian victims were immediately killed after the attack. They were from the Russian advisors who run the Syrian artillery. Five others were wounded before being transferred to Russian military hospital. Two of them succumbed to death later.

Russia is one of the main allies of the Syrian government, providing it with political, diplomatic and military support.