ISIS ‘kills’ five UK soldiers in Syria rocket attack – report

Five British soldiers were killed in a rocket strike launched by Islamic State militants in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, state media reports, citing sources on the ground. It comes days after two UK troops were injured in fighting there.

Rockets launched by IS (formerly ISIS/ISIL) hit the village of Al-Shaafah, in the Abu Kamal district of Deir ez-Zor province, the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan reported on Wednesday. The British soldiers were part of an international coalition operating in the area, which is the portion of Euphrates River valley near the Iraqi border where the militants still hold territory.

Several more soldiers were injured and airlifted to the coalition hospital in Hasakah, in northeastern Syria, according to Al-Watan.

If confirmed, this would be the second IS attack on British troops in Syria in days. On Sunday, two soldiers were reportedly injured and one member of the western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was killed in an IS rocket attack.

Meanwhile, the majority-Kurdish SDF announced on Wednesday that it had in its custody a total of 13 British nationals who it says were members of IS or their dependents. A mother and her two daughters, described as being “in their late 20s,” fled Al-Shafaah last week amid the fighting, and were interned at the Al-Hawl camp with another Briton suspected of IS ties, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Last month, US President Donald Trump announced he would pull out the remaining US troops from Syria, arguing IS is almost defeated and that regional US allies would be more than capable of finishing the terrorist group off. The government in Damascus has maintained that the US troop presence in Syria is unwelcome and against international law.

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