The wreckage of a bus, carrying Assad regime troops, attacked by the Islamic State in eastern Syria, December 30, 2020

UPDATE, MARCH 7:

The Islamic State has killed 13 troops, including officers, and wounded 18 in its latest attack on Assad regime forces in Syria.

ISIS again struck in the eastern Syria desert, on the highway from Deir ez-Zor to Palmyra.

The Islamic State has yet to claim responsibility for the Sunday afternoon ambush; however, it has periodically detonated explosives against regime military buses along the route.

On Friday, three regime soldiers were reportedly killed when their vehicle was attacked east of Palmyra.

ORIGINAL ENTRY, JAN 3: An Islamic State missile attack has killed five Assad troops and wounded 20 in the al-Badia desert region in eastern Syria.

An Assad military official said a military bus was struck about 7 p.m. on Sunday by missiles, followed by cannon fire.

The attack was the latest by ISIS on the road between Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria and Palmyra in the center of the country.

The Islamic State once held a large part of north, central, and east Syria. It was removed from cities, towns, and villages between 2017 and 2019 by separate offensives by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and by Russian-enabled pro-Assad units.

However, ISIS cells have continued to strike Assad military in the al-Badia region, and they have carried out operations in other parts of the country.

See also Islamic State Takes At Least 19 Hostages in Police Station Raid in Western Syria
Islamic State Kills 12 Iran-Backed Troops in Northeast Syria

Trying to cover up its inability to halt the attacks, the Assad regime pushes the disinformation that ISIS is backed by US forces in Syria and Iraq.