IS claims responsibility for an attack that killed 33 Syrian soldiers, and vows to keep fighting

BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an ambush in eastern Syria that killed at least 33 government soldiers and wounded others. The group warned in its Friday night statement that such attacks will continue. IS sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks despite their defeat in Syria in 2019. The group once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq where they declared a caliphate in 2014. The attack occurred Thursday night near the eastern town of Mayadeen when gunmen ambushed a bus carrying soldiers. Opposition activists raised the death toll of the attack to at least 33 as some soldiers succumbed to their wounds.