(Reuters) -
Unidentified gunmen attacked Islamic State militants in the eastern
Syrian town of al-Mayadin overnight, killing more than 12, the latest in
a series of guerrilla attacks on the ultra-hardline group in areas it
controls near the Iraqi border. The attacks in Deir
al-Zor province were carried out by two separate groups of gunmen, the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Islamic State, which
seized nearly all of Deir al-Zor province last year, has faced a wave of
hit-and-run attacks by unidentified gunmen in the area. There
was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. Syrian state
media attributed similar attacks in January to "popular resistance" to
Islamic State, which has brutally suppressed any opposition to its
control. The first group
of assailants opened fire on an Islamic State patrol, killing 12 gunmen,
before attacking Islamic State members who were guarding a courthouse.
They were riding at least two motor bikes. A
second group of gunmen meanwhile attacked an Islamic State checkpoint
in the same town, killing and injuring an unknown number of the Islamic
State militants, the Observatory reported. Al-Mayadin is located about 60 km (40 miles) from the border with Iraq. While
it has lost control of most of Deir al-Zor province to Islamic State,
the Syrian government still controls part of the Deir al-Zor city. A U.S.-led alliance seeking to roll back the group in both Syria and Iraq
has dismissed the idea of partnering with President Bashar al-Assad in
the fight against Islamic State, seeing him as part of the problem. The Syrian military said on Saturday it had killed a leading member of Islamic State in an air strike in Hama province in central Syria. The Observatory said two commanders and 26 Islamic State militants had been killed in that attack. The
Syrian military and allied militia including the Iranian-backed
Hezbollah are fighting an array of insurgent groups, including both
jihadists and mainstream rebels, across the country in the nearly
four-year-old crisis. The war is estimated to have killed around 200,000 people. The
Observatory said a rocket attack by government forces on Sunday killed
11 people and wounded at least 50 others in the town of Irbin in the
rebel-held Ghouta area east of Damascus.
Gunmen kill more than 12 Islamic State militants in eastern Syria

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