IS attack kills two Syrian regime troops near Palmyra

Two Syrian regime troops were killed on Friday after the Islamic State (IS) group attacked a military checkpoint in the central province of Homs, according to opposition-affiliated sources.

The attack by IS cells took place in the desert near the ancient city of Palmyra and wounded four other soldiers, sources working in the monitoring and follow-up units affiliated with the Syrian opposition told The New Arab's Arabic sister service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The sources said regime forces found the corpse of Mohammed Yousef Al-Najm, killed in the desert of Al-Sukhnah city in Homs province, while combing the desert for IS cells.

Iranian-allied militias and Russian forces are also taking part in the campaign.

Moscow and Tehran are key allies of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and have supported him in the country's ongoing civil war, which began in 2011 after the brutal repression of peaceful pro-democracy protests.

IS seized on disarray and tensions in Syria and neighbouring Iraq to proclaim a self-styled caliphate in 2014.

While the extremist group has lost all the territory it formerly controlled, it continues to operate in the Syrian desert and wage attacks from there.

On Monday, Syrian regime forces found the bodies of 11 members of the 17th Division, all killed by gunshots to the head and with their hands bound in the desert near Palmyra.

The fate of a captain and three others remains unknown.

They were part of the group regime forces lost contact with a week ago during the campaign to comb the Palmyra desert.