At least 50 people have been killed in an Daesh attack on government forces and pro-regime villages in central Syria.
The surprise offensive targeted pro-government troops at positions on the main road linking the capital of Damascus to Aleppo, UK-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday.
Several Muslim-majority settlements were also attacked and the village of Aqareb al-Safi captured.
The terrorists have killed Muslims they regard as heretics after capturing territory on countless occasions across Syria and Iraq.
Fifteen of the dead have so far been identified as non-combatants and 27 as pro-government fighters, the Observatory said. Around 15 Daesh fighters were also killed.
While there are reports several government positions were captured and fighting is still ongoing, Syrian state television said that the regime gunmen managed to repel the attack and launched a counteroffensive in the form of air strikes.
"Dozens of people are also missing, but it is not clear if they were kidnapped by Daesh,” said the Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the group. He said Isis deployed snipers on roofs of some buildings in Aqareb al-Safi.
At least two more civilians were injured in Isis shelling in the nearby town of Salamiyeh.
Isis, meanwhile, claimed via its news channel Amaq it had killed 100 government troops and captured two villages in Thursday's violence.
The Independent
