DAMASCUS, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- A total of 13 Islamic State (IS) militants and 21 Syrian soldiers have been killed over the past 48 hours in the desert region of Syria's central province of Hama, a war monitor reported on Thursday.
The battles renewed in the desert region of the remote eastern countryside of Hama were coupled with shelling on IS positions and Russian airstrikes, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Britain-based watched group said that the death toll could likely rise because of the number of critically wounded fighters.
The battles in the desert region have been raging since March, which has killed 869 Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters as well as 437 IS militants, said the observatory. Enditem
