ISIS claims targeting a Syrian army bus in Al-Hasakeh

ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus carrying members of the Syrian army in the western countryside of Hasakah, while there were conflicting reports about the details of the attack and the extent of human casualties.

According to the "Amaq" news agency of the "Islamic State" organization, on Tuesday (May 12th),  the group's militants "set up a tight ambush" of a bus carrying Syrian army soldiers on the road to the town of Al-Aliya in the western countryside of Al-Hasakah province.

The agency said that ISIS fighters "surprised the bus with heavy machine gun fire", killing and wounding about six soldiers, and damaging the bus.

Bus attacks are a "military tactic," she said, by ISIS fighters in similar attacks against the former regime.

The agency has not released any photos or videos documenting the details of the attack or the extent of the losses it announced.

Statement by the Ministry of Defense

The official Syrian News Agency (SANA) quoted the Information and Communication Department of the Ministry of Defense as saying that "unknown persons fired at the bus west of Al-Aliya silos in the countryside of Al-Hasakah, which led to the death  of two soldiers and the wounding of a number of members," without giving further details.

The Al-Hasakah Information Directorate published a video showing the arrival of wounded Syrian Army members to Ras al-Ain Hospital, north of Al-Hasakah, after they were targeted by unknown persons west of Al-Aliya silos in Al-Hasakah countryside.

Repeated attacks

   After a first attack attempt on February 8, during which  the ISF was able to neutralize an attacker wearing an explosive belt, the organization returned the next day to carry out a more violent and organized attack on the checkpoint located at the western entrance to the city. Its cells used machine guns and shells in an attempt to penetrate the security post, killing four members of the Internal Security and wounding two others, while one was killed The attackers are at the scene of the engagement.

Coinciding with the events in Raqqa, on the same day (February 9,  2026), the organization carried out lightning attacks in al-Mayadeen targeting members of the 42nd Division of the Syrian Army, where the organization's cells assassinated a soldier and a civilian using pistols equipped with silencers, in a tactic that reflects the organization's return to the method of precision, low-noise assassinations.