CAIRO: Daesh militants killed four Syrian government security personnel in northern Syria on Monday, the Syrian state news agency reported, in what would be the group’s deadliest attack on government forces since the ouster of President Bashar Assad.
The assault on a checkpoint west of Raqqa city underlined an escalation in attacks by the jihadist group against President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s government, two days after the jihadist group declared “a new phase of operations” against it. Islamic State issued no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s attack. On Saturday, the group claimed two attacks targeting Syrian army personnel in northern and eastern Syria, in which a Syrian soldier and a civilian were killed.
The Syrian state news agency said forces foiled Monday’s attack and killed one of the militants. It quoted a security source as saying Islamic State carried out the attack. Separately, one soldier was killed after unknown gunmen attacked the army headquarters in the city of Mayadin in Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, the Syrian state news agency reported on the early hours of Tuesday.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which occurred in the same city where the Islamic State carried out an attack days earlier.
The Syrian government joined the US-led coalition to combat Islamic State last year. In January, government forces seized control of Raqqa from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, along with much of the surrounding territory in northern and eastern Syria.
Meanwhile, US forces on Monday began withdrawing from their largest military base in the northeast, according to three Syrian military and security sources — part of a broader pullout of US troops who deployed to Syria a decade ago to fight Islamic State.
Daesh kills four security personnel in Syria, state news agency says
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Daesh kills four security personnel in Syria, state news agency says
- The assault on a checkpoint west of Raqqa city underlined an escalation in attacks by the jihadist group against President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s government
UAE closes embassy in Tehran, withdraws ambassador
- UAE foreign ministry said Iranian strikes represented serious and irresponsible escalation
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates closed its embassy in Tehran on Sunday and has withdrawn its ambassador and all diplomatic staff from Iran following Iranian missile strikes targeting the Gulf country.
In a statement, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision came in response to what it described as “blatant Iranian missile attacks” on Emirati territory.
The ministry said the strikes targeted civilian sites, including residential areas, airports, ports and service facilities, and represented a serious and irresponsible escalation.
“These hostile attacks constitute a flagrant violation of national sovereignty and a clear breach of international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” the statement said.
The ministry added that the move reflects the UAE’s “firm and unwavering stance against any aggression” that threatens its security and sovereignty. It accused Iran of continued hostile and provocative conduct that undermines de-escalation efforts and pushes the region toward a dangerous trajectory, threatening regional and international peace, energy security and global economic stability.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi have faced hundreds of missile and drone attacks since Saturday, as Tehran retaliates against US-Israeli airstrikes.
While the majority of the projectiles have reportedly been intercepted, there have been reports of casualties and damage in several areas of both cities.
