On early Tuesday, three pro-government fighters were killed in an attack launched by Islamic State (IS) militants in the desert region of Syria's province of Homs.
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The IS militants carried out the attack after midnight on an arms depot near Palmyra in the eastern countryside of Homs, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that the death toll would likely rise as eight fighters were seriously injured.
The latest attack came just days after IS militants ambushed a bus in the desert region of Al-Mayadeen City in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour Friday, killing 35 Syrian soldiers.
The war monitor said on Tuesday that the army has carried out large-scale combing operations in the Syrian desert to search for IS cells.
So far this year, the Islamic State operations in the desert have claimed the lives of 420 people, including 20 of its own militants, 243 government soldiers, and 157 civilians.
The situation remains tense as the Syrian army intensifies its efforts to counter the persistent threat posed by IS militants in the desert region.
The recent escalation serves as a reminder of the ongoing battle against the extremist group, which lost key ground in Syria by the end of 2018 but remained active in the hard-to-control desert region.