ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – An explosion targeting a bus of the Syrian energy ministry in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province on Thursday killed at least four personnel and injured nine others, state media reported.

“A bus carrying oil facility guards and a number of employees in Deir ez-Zor was targeted by terrorists this morning while passing on the road between the cities of Deir ez-Zor and Mayadeen,” the ministry said in a statement.

The energy stressed that the attack will not deter oil sector workers from performing their duties, describing it as “a desperate attempt to disrupt efforts to rebuild and rehabilitate the energy sector's infrastructure.”

A Syrian official, speaking to AFP on the condition of anonymity, raised the toll to five killed and 13 injured, including bystanders.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the perpetrators were “likely affiliated with an Islamic State (ISIS) cell.”

ISIS controlled swathes of territory in Syria before it was territorially defeated in 2019. After their territorial defeat, the group resorted to hit-and-run attacks, especially in northeast Syria (Rojava) areas. ISIS carried out several similar attacks targeting vehicles throughout the Syrian civil war.