Bus blast in eastern Syria kills at least 5 defense ministry staff; ISIS suspected
Attack on bus carrying oil facility guards is similar to terror group’s behavior during civil war; jihadist attacks on government relatively rare since Assad regime’s fall
DAMASCUS, Syria — A blast targeting a bus in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Thursday killed at least five defense ministry personnel, an official from the ministry told AFP.
“An explosive device detonated as a bus carrying oil facility guards affiliated with the defense ministry passed by, killing five of them and wounding 13 others, including civilian bystanders,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
State television said a blast hit a bus on the road between the cities of Deir Ezzor and Mayadeen, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) away.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the perpetrators were “likely affiliated” with an Islamic State cell.
ISIS jihadists, once in control of large swaths of Iraq and Syria, were territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 in a battle spearheaded by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with support from an international coalition.
The jihadists still maintain a presence, particularly in Syria’s vast desert, launching attacks mostly on Kurdish-controlled areas in the country’s northeast.
BREAKING | Four members of Syria’s Ministry of Defense were reportedly killed and nine others wounded when a roadside explosive detonated on the main road between Deir Ezzor and Al-Mayadeen, eastern Syria.
(Sham TV) pic.twitter.com/Xw3o2gX9xR
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) October 16, 2025
During Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011, ISIS carried out similar attacks on buses targeting the forces of former ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Since the new Islamist-led authorities took power after Assad’s December ouster, jihadist attacks on government-controlled areas have been scarce.
In May, ISIS claimed its first attack on the new forces, with the Observatory saying one member of Syrian army personnel was killed and three others wounded.
The following month, authorities accused ISIS of being behind a deadly suicide attack in a Damascus church that killed 25 people, though the group never claimed responsibility.
The Times of Israel Community.