DAMASCUS, Dec.4-- As many as 19 government soldiers were killed overnight in a suicide bombing near an airbase in eastern Syria, a monitoring group reported Thursday.

The bomber, who belonged to the Islamic State (IS) group, detonated his explosive-laden vehicle at the al-Masemekeh building near the Deir al-Zour airbase in Deir al-Zour province, said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said the causalities include Syrian government soldiers and members of the National Defense Forces, a pro-government militia.

The blast was followed by intense fighting, during which seven IS militants were killed.

IS militants have captured considerable swathes of Deir al-Zour, an oil-rich province bordering Iraq, in recent months.

The Syrian crisis has been dragging on since 2011 with no sign of abating, despite international efforts to bring it to a close.

The conflict has got more complicated when ultra-radical groups, like the IS and the Nusra Front, joined the fight to serve their own interests in the war-torn country, where over 190,000 people were reportedly killed and millions of others displaced.

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