AFTER being one of the safest places away from Syria’s seven-year-old war, the southern province of Sweida lived the single deadliest day Wednesday with over 215 people killed and 180 wounded in the Islamic State (IS) attacks.

The high death toll includes victims killed by three suicide bombings in the capital city of Sweida, and those who took up arms against the IS in towns of the province’s northeastern countryside, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The SOHR added that 30 IS militants, including the suicide bombers, were killed in the attacks.

The Syrian army and locals succeeded in pushing back the IS from some areas infiltrated through the attacks, and the authorities foiled other would-be suicide bombings in the city, said state media.

While the countryside of Sweida has witnessed battles between rebels, including IS, and the Syrian army, the city of Sweida has remained largely calm during Syria’s 7-year-long war as it is inhabited by people of the Druze minority, which are loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. (Xinhua)