DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A bomb exploded Thursday on a Syrian Defense Ministry bus in the country's east, killing and wounding several soldiers, state TV reported.

State-run Al-Ikhbariah TV said the explosion occurred on the road linking the eastern cities of Deir el-Zour and Mayadeen. The report did not give details, only saying that a number of soldiers were killed or injured.

The report said the soldiers's job was guarding an oil facility in the oil-rich region that borders Iraq.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three soldiers were killed and nine were wounded in the attack.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area is known to be home to sleeper cells of the Islamic State group that was defeated in Syria in 2019.

IS, which once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq, is opposed to the new authority in Damascus led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once the head of al-Qaida’s branch in Syria and fought battles against IS.