Islamic State militants on Saturday killed 20 government troops during an attack on a hospital in eastern Syria, a Britain-based information agency said.
The militants also seized territory in Deir el-Zour, near the border with Iraq, which is split between government forces and IS fighters.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six IS combatants also were killed in the fighting. It said government forces had surrounded the hospital, but the fate of its staff and patients was not known.
Some 200,000 civilians are estimated to still be living in Deir el-Zour’s government-controlled neighborhoods. It was not clear whether civilians were killed or injured in Saturday’s attack.
Meanwhile, in northeastern Syria, a car bomb exploded in the predominantly Kurdish town of Qamishli. The observatory said two people were killed and five were wounded, while state news agency SANA said five were killed and several others were wounded.