Attack kills 10 in Syria, Kurdish forces arrest 52 militants

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — A militant rocket attack in eastern Syria has struck a bus with oil industry employees, killing at least 10. To the north, Syrian Kurdish-led forces announced on Friday they arrested 52 militants in an operation against the extremist Islamic State group’s sleeper cells. Syria’s petroleum ministry said the rocket struck in a gas field in eastern Deir el-Zour province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said IS was behind the attack. It said at last 12 workers were killed. Separately, the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said they arrested 52 militants and reportedly thwarted an IS attack planned for New Year’s Eve.