The bombing shows a sharp escalation by armed groups who view the new Damascus government as illegal.
According to analysts, ISIL (ISIS) has argued responsibility for attacks on Syrian forces, representing the first strike of an armed group in government forces since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement released late Thursday, ISIL said the fighters had planted explosive devices in southern Syria that would hit “apostasy vehicles.”
The bombing appears to mark an escalation by ISIL. This views the new Damascus government as illegal, but has so far focused on the Kurdish forces in the north.
The explosion in the Al-Safa Desert region of Sweida on May 22nd reportedly killed or wounded seven Syrian soldiers.
The second bomb attack claimed by ISIL earlier this week targeted fighter jets that were targeted by US-backed Kurdish-led Free Syrian forces in nearby areas. ISIL said one fighter plane was killed and three were injured.
There have been no official comments from the Syrian government, and the Free Syrian Army has not yet responded.
Members of the new Syrian government, which replaced al-Assad after its removal in December, were once linked to ISIL rival Al-Qaeda, but invaded the group almost a decade ago.
However, over the past few months, ISIL has been solely responsible for attacks on the Syrian democratic forces in the northeast.
The UK-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory said the convoy’s explosion was the first operation to be sued by ISIL to target new Syrian forces.
ISIL was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, but maintains sleeper cells, particularly in the deserts of the country’s central and eastern deserts.
Although the group’s capabilities have been declining, the latest attacks suggest that they may be trying to reassert themselves amid changing alliances and weakening of state control.
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