IS ambush kills 21 regime fighters in southern Syria

Islamic State jihadists have killed 12 Syrian regime fighters in an ambush as the group faces separate assaults on its last desert strongholds, a war monitor said Tuesday. The attack late Monday in Syria's southern province of Sweida came as US-backed forces advanced against the jihadists on the border with Iraq, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
It also comes with President Bashar al-Assad's forces poised to launch an attack on the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major region in Syria still controlled by rebels and jihadists. The IS ambush in Sweida's volcanic plateau of Tulul al-Safa sparked fighting that killed eight jihadists, the Britain-based Observatory said.
State news agency SANA reported heavy clashes with IS in the area, which lies some 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Damascus, adding that government aircraft and artillery "targeted hideouts and positions" held by the group.