Roadside bombing in southern Syria kills a journalist and 3 Syrian soldiers, state-run media say

BEIRUT — A roadside bombing in southern Syria on Wednesday killed a Syrian journalist and three soldiers, the country's state news agency reported.

The SANA agency said the bomb exploded when Firas al-Ahmad, a veteran correspondent for the local Sama TV station, was driving back from an assignment at the border with Jordan where Syrian troops were conducting operations against drug dealers.

The bomb went off in the neighborhood of Shiyah, in the southern province of Daraa, instantly killing the 31-year-old al-Ahmad and two soldiers. A third soldier died of his wounds later in hospital, SANA said.

Daraa became known as the cradle of the 2011 uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad that was part of the Arab Spring revolts. Assad's forces cracked down on the uprising and the crisis quickly descended into a full-blown civil war.

The province was recaptured by Syrian government troops in 2018 but rebels remained in parts of it. Assad has since regained control of most of Syria, with the help of his allies Russia and Iran.

A Russian-mediated deal in 2018 allowed some of the province’s armed opposition to remain in their former strongholds, in charge of security. Government troops retained control of the province, but security duties were divided.

Tensions have regularly erupted over the past months and dozens of people have been killed. Government troops have tried several times to take over areas under opposition control.