MOSCOW, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two Russian contract servicemen have been killed in Syria after Islamic State (IS) terrorists shelled their convoy with mortars, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
The terrorists fired at the convoy of the Russian center for the Syrian reconciliation in the province of Deir al-Zour, killing a Russian contract soldier on the site and seriously injuring another who died later at a hospital, it said.
The Syrian government forces supported by Russian warplanes are advancing towards the IS-held city of Deir al-Zour, one of the terrorist group's last strongholds in Syria.
Russia has been participating in anti-terrorist operations in Syria since September 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Russian Defense Ministry has admitted several deaths of its soldiers in Syria but there is no official number of the total casualties.
