Train carrying phosphate attacked in Syria

No one has claimed the attack yet. Although ISIS gangs are defeated, it is stated that they still have sleeper cells in the region.

The Syrian Ministry of Transport reported a "terrorist" attack on a train carrying phosphate in the center of the country.

The Syrian Ministry of Transport said in an official statement that the train was struck by improvised-explosive devices (IEDs). This caused a derail. A fire also erupted in the train’s engine and the phosphates’ containers.

In March 2018, Syria granted the Russian company Stroytransgaz the right to remove and operate phosphate in the Palmyra region for 50 years.

No one has claimed the attack yet. Although ISIS gangs are defeated, it is stated that they still have sleeper cells in the region.

The attack on the train coincided with last Sunday's sabotage of the gas pipeline across the Syrian desert. From this strategically important pipeline, gas is transported from El Şair, the country's largest gas deposit in the Homs region, to the Ebla factory in the west. One day after the pipeline stopped, it was put back into operation.

At the end of June, the submarine pipeline connected to a refinery in the western city of Banyas also suffered from a sabotage action.