Damascus, Dec 4 (IANS): At least 19 government soldiers were killed overnight in a suicide bombing incident near an airbase in eastern Syria, a monitoring group reported Thursday.

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

It said the casualties included Syrian government soldiers and members of the National Defence 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 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 have reportedly been killed and millions of others displaced.