Russian military convoy attacked near Syria’s Golan Heights as child dies in mine explosion

A Russian military convoy was attacked in southern Syria, near the border with the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, while one child was killed and five injured by a mine explosion in the restive province of Daraa.

The Horan Free League media activist group reported that unknown assailants attacked the Russian military convoy near the village of Muallaqa near Quneitra, close to the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with an improvised explosive device.

This was the second time in a week that Russian troops had been targeted in the area.

The Horan Free League said that there were deaths and injuries as a result of the attack but did not specify how many.

It said that ambulances had arrived in the area following the attack, with Syrian regime troops being placed on high alert.

Russia is a key backer of the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and its intervention in the Syrian conflict, beginning in September 2015 has given the regime the upper hand, allowing it to recapture key territories formerly held by the opposition.

Elsewhere in southern Syria, a child was killed and five others injured, all from the same family when a mine exploded on a farm northeast of Daraa city, according to the Syrian news website Enab Baladi.

Enab Baladi identified the deceased child as Mohammed Bassam Ajaj. Five of his brothers and sisters were injured in the explosion.

They were children of an agricultural worker and aged between two and fifteen. They were taken to a hospital in Daraa city.

Daraa province was formerly held by rebels, reverting to Assad regime control in 2018 following an agreement brokered by Russia.

It remains restive and unstable, with frequent violent incidents targeting regime troops and former rebels.

The “Martyrs Documentation Office” in the province released statistics at the beginning of this month saying that 18 people were killed in the province in July.