Cairo, 12 August 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The number of Syrian government troops killed in an attack carried out by Islamic State militants this week has risen to 33, a war monitor reported on Saturday.

The attack in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Thursday night was the hardline group's deadliest against government forces in the country so far this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added.

The Britain-based monitor said Islamic State militants attacked a military bus carrying Syrian soldiers.

Amaq News Agency, Islamic State's mouthpiece, said the group's fighters had killed 40 personnel of the Syrian army in an ambush targeting two military buses in Deir al-Zour.

The Syrian state news agency SANA cited a military source confirming the attack, but adding only that "a number of soldiers" were killed or injured.

On Tuesday, the Islamic State militants attacked posts held by Syrian government troops and fighters loyal to them in northern Syria, killing 10.

The group once controlled a large portion of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Islamic State has since been declared militarily defeated in both countries, but it remains active and repeatedly carries out attacks in the region.

Photo: MIA archive