DAMASCUS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Two pro-government fighters were killed during an Islamic State (IS) attack on a military site in the desert region in eastern Syria overnight into Tuesday, pro-government Sham FM radio reported Wednesday.
The IS militants attacked a position of the pro-government fighters in the desert region of al-Sukhneh in the eastern countryside of the central province of Homs, said the report.
The attack triggered a confrontation between the two sides, resulting in the killing of the two fighters, it added.
The casualties of the IS militants are not yet known.
Since the beginning of 2023, 161 government and pro-government fighters and 148 civilians have been killed by IS attacks in the Syrian desert region, with only 14 IS militants killed during such attacks, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor.
Following its defeat in major Syrian areas in 2018, the IS militants fled to the desert region and started attacks on roads linking the central provinces of Hama and Homs with the eastern province of Deir al-Zour. ■
