Islamic State claims responsibility for killing 2 Syrian soldiers

DAMASCUS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility on Saturday for an attack that killed two Syrian soldiers near the city of Manbij in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo province.

The claim was made through media channels affiliated with the group hours after Syria's state news agency SANA reported the killing of two soldiers by unidentified gunmen.

Citing a Defense Ministry source, SANA said the soldiers were targeted near Manbij while traveling to their duty station.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, the two soldiers belonged to Syria's 76th Armored Division and were attacked near the village of Tahna, west of Manbij.

The observatory said the assailants, believed to be IS militants, opened fire with automatic weapons, killing the two soldiers at the scene.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks targeting military personnel affiliated with Syria's new transitional authorities.

On May 11, two soldiers were killed when their bus came under attack in the countryside of northeastern Syria's Hasakah province.

Despite the territorial defeat of IS in Syria years ago, the group continues to maintain sleeper cells capable of carrying out hit-and-run attacks, particularly in the country's eastern and northeastern regions.

Some media reports have linked several recent attacks against members of Syria's newly formed military forces to IS cells operating in remote areas following the downfall of the previous Syrian administration in late 2024. Enditem