BEIRUT: Four suicide car bombs struck Syrian regime targets Wednesday in the Qalamoun region near Lebanon, killing at least seven soldiers, a monitor and state news agency SANA said.

The attacks come a day after troops loyal to President Bashar Assad made gains in the Qalamoun area north of Damascus.

The attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Al-Nusra Front, two Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, came after rebels were driven out of nearby Qara village on Tuesday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory reported two attacks in the town of Nabek, while SANA reported two others in Deir Attiya.

“At least seven regime troops were killed in the two attacks (in Nabek) and five others are in critical condition,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.