At least 75 people, mostly displaced civilians, were killed in a car bombing in Deir Ezzor on Saturday, AFP quoted the Syrian Observatory of Human rights.
The Islamic State group claimed the attack, which comes just a day after the Syrian Army said it had recaptured Deir Ezzor from the terror group, Reuters reported.
Deir Ezzor was said to be the Islamic State’s last major stronghold in the war-torn country, and was of strategic importance to the group as it is located close to the Iraqi border in the east. The Islamic State took control of it in 2014.
“At least 75 displaced civilians including children were killed, around 140 were injured, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the human rights group, said, according to AFP.
The bombing targeted the largest gathering of refugees in the region, Syrian state news agency Sana reported. The agency said that “large numbers of children and women” were among the victims. According to Abdel Rahman, the victims had fled battles in the region – where the Syrian regime forces and a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance are fighting the ISIS in separate offensives.
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