Attack Blamed on ISIS Militants Kills 22 Pro-Government Fighters in Central Syria 

Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells have been blamed for deadly attacks against both Syrian government forces and against members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. (Getty Images/AFP)
Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells have been blamed for deadly attacks against both Syrian government forces and against members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Attack Blamed on ISIS Militants Kills 22 Pro-Government Fighters in Central Syria 

Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells have been blamed for deadly attacks against both Syrian government forces and against members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. (Getty Images/AFP)
Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells have been blamed for deadly attacks against both Syrian government forces and against members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. (Getty Images/AFP)

An attack on pro-government fighters by suspected members of the ISIS group in central Syria killed 22 pro-government fighters, an opposition war monitor and pro-government media reported Friday.

Gunmen attacked a bus carrying members of the Quds Brigade, a government and Russian-backed faction of mostly Palestinian fighters in Syria, near the town of Sukhna late Thursday night. Sukhna was once an ISIS stronghold.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but both the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition war monitor, and the pro-government radio station Sham FM said ISIS was behind the attack.

Both the Observatory and Sham FM said 22 fighters were killed. Sham FM said they were all Quds Brigade gunmen, while the Observatory said the majority belonged to the group.

The Quds Brigade fought on the side of Syrian government forces during the country’s 13-year conflict, which has killed half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.

The Quds Brigade is different from the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which uses the same name.

Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells have been blamed for deadly attacks against both Syrian government forces and against members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.



Lebanon: Mikati Says Diplomatic Efforts 'Intensify' to Secure Ceasefire

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in the presence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (not pictured), in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in the presence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (not pictured), in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanon: Mikati Says Diplomatic Efforts 'Intensify' to Secure Ceasefire

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in the presence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (not pictured), in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference in the presence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (not pictured), in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday said that diplomatic efforts are ongoing to pressure Israel into halting its offensive on Lebanon.
He said that contacts have “intensified” in the past hours ahead of a session of the United Nations Security Council, aiming once again to achieve a ceasefire and increase pressure to stop the "Israeli aggression" on Lebanon.
He noted that “discussions are ongoing between the United States and France, which has requested the convening of the Security Council, with the goal of reviving a declaration for a temporary ceasefire to facilitate the resumption of talks on political solutions."
Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran, and Hezbollah says its attacks are aimed at aiding the Palestinians. Israel has carried out airstrikes in response and the conflict steadily escalated, erupting into a full-fledged war last month.
Israel has inflicted a punishing wave of blows against Hezbollah in recent weeks and says it will keep fighting until tens of thousands of displaced Israeli citizens can return to their homes in the north.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Lebanon and over a million displaced since the fighting escalated in mid-September.