Damascus: Islamic State cells have intensified attacks in eastern Syria’s Deir al-Zour province, striking two oil tankers in separate incidents on Thursday as Syrian authorities widen counterterrorism operations across the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Interior Ministry.

The Britain-based war monitor said suspected Islamic State gunmen opened fire on a tank truck in the village of al-Tayyahki, north of Deir al-Zour, damaging the vehicle but causing no casualties. In a second attack in the nearby town of al-Shahil, gunmen targetted a tank truck, wounding its driver.

The Observatory said the incidents were part of a growing wave of Islamic State activities in the eastern Euphrates region, where sleeper cells have staged ambushes, bombings, and assass

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