At least 25 regime troops were killed and 3 more were taken hostage when ISIS launched surprise attack on regime bastion near a crossing border with Iraq on Thursday, sources told Ammar Johmani.
50 more soldiers were also wounded in the ISIS attack on Wadi al-Waer area near al-Tanaf crossing.
The Syrian desert, also known as al-Badiya and its borderline with Iraq has been witnessing fierce clashes since two months between ISIS and the regime army abacked by Shiite militias amid slow advances against the radical group.
Another heavy loss among the regime army took place in Eastern Ghouta suburbs on Wednesday when at least 28 soldiers and pro-regime fighters were killed in a rebel ambush near Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The fighters came under attack by the Army of Islam rebel group as they attempted to advance in the town of al-Rihan.
