At least 180 civilians were killed during a series of suicide bombings and attacks carried out by the Islamic State in southern Syria on Wednesday, in what is being described as the worst carnage the nation has experienced in recent months.
Another 176 people were injured and the death toll is expected to rise.
The jihadist terrorists also attacked the mainly Druze city of Sweida or Swaida, which is close to the border with Jordan. It is also near Israel’s Golan Heights border.
According to UAE’s the National, “The suicide blasts and raids killed at least 183, including 89 civilians, in one of the group’s deadliest ever assaults in the country.”
The group reportedly claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks using the Telegram messaging app, on which they referred to the jihadists as “soldiers of the caliphate.”
Sweida is currently under the control of dictator Bashar al-Assad. Last year, Syrian government forces and a separate operation led by United States-backed Kurdish forces and Arab fighters were able to push the Islamic State out of the region.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said three suicide bombers set off booby-trapped belts in Sweida in that were coordinated with other blasts that hit villages to the north and east of the city and noted that “ISIS fighters then stormed villages in the province’s northeast and killed residents in their homes.”
The Associated Press reported that one of the bombers “drove through the market on a motorcycle and blew himself up. … The second attacker hit in another busy square in the city. Two other attackers blew themselves up when they were chased by authorities.”
In addition to the number of civilians killed, 94 Syrian Army fighters also died during the attacks and battle that ensued and 30 Islamic State fighters, including the attackers, were also killed.
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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