ISI bombings break in southern Syria, killing more than 200 people

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Islamic State jihadists on Wednesday launched a series of coordinated attacks in southern Syria, destroying the region's calm and killing more than 200 people, according to reports. local officials and a war monitor.

The attacks, which included suicide bombings on a vegetable market and a public square in a provincial capital, as well as raids on neighboring villages, showed that the Islamic State could still inflict considerable damage in Syria, despite the loss of territory.

The high death toll undermines the Syrian government's narrative that the seven-year war is nearing its end, with President Bashar al-Assad striving to restore stability. The dead included many pro-government fighters, according to one conflict observer.

The attacks hit Sweida province along the Syrian border with Jordan. Most of the inhabitants of the region are members of the Druse sect and the region has been largely spared by the violence that ripped apart other parts of Syria during the war.

Four suicide bombers entered the provincial capital, also called Sweida. morning, Syrian state television said. One, on a motorcycle, hit a vegetable market. Another blew up his explosives in a public square. Two others blew themselves up when they were approached by security forces, the broadcaster said.

He released images of scattered vegetables and damaged cars in the street, where work crews were cleaning the area. Activists attacked a number of villages in the north and east of the city, killing civilians and clashing with local militias to defend the area, residents said. "Mazayiad Hasson, a resident of the region, said through a courier application."

A provincial health official, Hassan Omar, told the Associated Press that 204 people had been killed in the street. suicide bombings and clashes, and that 180 people were injured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a surveillance group in Britain that opposes the Syrian government, said that 221 people had been killed. combatants and civilians. At least 45 militants from the Islamic State were killed, including seven who blew themselves up.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for attacks on its social media channels, claiming that its fighters had killed more than 100 people. He said his militants launched attacks on government installations and clashed with Syrian forces before blowing themselves up.

The war in Syria began in 2011 with an uprising of 19459009 against Mr. Assad who turned into an armed rebellion. The chaos has provided an opening to jihadist groups, especially the Islamic State, which quickly developed in 2014 and then declared a caliphate that covered large parts of Syria and Iraq. .

The Syrian government, backed by Russia and Iran, regained control of most of the country's center and its most populated areas, although parts of the north and east remain out of his reach.

Fighters of the Islamic State lost most of the territory they controlled desert along the southern border. Analysts have warned that when jihadists lose territory, they are likely to return to their roots as an underground uprising, leading attacks like Wednesday.