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At least four people have been killed and nine injured following an explosion targeting a government-owned bus in eastern Syria, according to the state news agency SANA.

The explosive device detonated while the bus, belonging to the Syrian Ministry of Energy, was travelling on a highway connecting Deir Az Zor and al-Mayadin, SANA reported in a post on X on Thursday.

All four deaths were security personnel at an oil facility in Deir Az Zor, the country’s oil heartland and seventh largest city, which was the site of fierce battles against ISIL (ISIS) during the country’s ruinous civil war.

Oil facility workers as well as civilians were among those who were injured in the attack, SANA added, without providing further details.

A video verified by Al Jazeera from the site of the explosion showed several security personnel inspecting a bomb-damaged bus on the side of a road.

According to the Reuters news agency, the security personnel were part of an army contingent securing the Teim oilfield. They were reportedly returning home after their shift at the oil facility when the explosion took place.

The incident is said to be the deadliest explosion in the eastern province, which also produces most of Syria’s wheat, since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last December.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In May, a blast killed at least three people targeting a police station in al-Mayadin, a day after Syrian authorities said security forces killed three ISIL fighters and arrested four others in Aleppo.

In June, authorities had also accused ISIL of being behind a deadly suicide attack in a Damascus church that killed 25 people, though the group never claimed responsibility.

During Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011, ISIL carried out similar attacks on buses targeting the forces of al-Assad.

However, since the interim government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa took power after a lightning rebel offensive, attacks on government-controlled areas have been rare.

The site of the latest deadly attack also lies near an area controlled by the Kurdish US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) east of the Euphrates, where skirmishes and tensions between government forces and the SDF have risen in recent weeks.

The region lies along the border with Iraq and is divided by the Euphrates River between areas controlled by the state and the US-backed and Kurdish-led SDF, which controls Syria’s oilfields east of the river.

In August, Syria’s Ministry of Defence had accused the SDF of carrying out a rocket attack on a military position in northern Syria, injuring four army personnel and three civilians.

Internal, external concerns for al-Sharaa

The Syrian leader has been on a painstaking mission to try and unify the war-ravaged nation, making major inroads in ending Syria’s international isolation, crowned with a visit to the United Nations General Assembly last month, the first by a Syrian in six decades, where he called for an end to all sanctions on his nation.

Damascus has also been attracting substantial economic investment from Gulf Arab nations, a critical economic lifeline.

Deadly sectarian fighting in the southern province of Suwayda in July rocked the fledgling government, prompting it to deploy forces there to quell unrest between Bedouin tribes and Druze militias.

There are also external interventionist security issues to contend with, as Israel attacked Syrian positions during that fighting under the pretext of protecting the Druze. But Israel has carried out multiple bombings and incursions into Syria both before and after that, despite ongoing security talks between the two nations.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vision of a “Greater Israel”, condemned by Arab and Muslima countries, involves hegemonic designs on Syrian territory, among others.

On Friday, SANA reported Israeli forces conducted incursions and raids in Eastern al-Samadaniyah and Ofaniya, in the Quneitra countryside.

According to SANA, the Israeli operation consisted of eight military vehicles, a heavy bulldozer, and two tanks advancing from near Tal Krum Jaba towards Eastern al-Samadaniyah, before withdrawing hours later towards the destroyed city of Quneitra in southwestern Syria, in the occupied Golan Heights.

Central bankers and financial delegates have gathered in Washington, DC this week for the annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings, which conclude on Saturday.

Discussions this week have focused on global economic headwinds, as the IMF warns of signs of distress following US trade tariffs and protectionism.

The IMF is widely seen as a “lender of last resort”, only stepping in when countries face severe financial crises and cannot access usual borrowing channels. Its loans, however, often come with strict conditions which can result in austerity measures and deepen social and economic hardships, making the loans a double-edged sword.

What is the IMF and how does it fund itself?

Founded in 1944 during World War II at the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, US, the IMF was established to help stabilise the post-war global economy. Now based in Washington, DC, it has since grown from 44 founding members to 191 today and works closely with the United Nations and other international organisations to support global financial stability.

It does this by providing policy advice, short-term financial assistance and capacity development to countries and institutions.

Any country can join the IMF if approved by existing members and by paying a quota based on the size of its economy, with wealthier countries contributing more. This quota is used to set how much the country contributes, how much it can borrow and how much voting power it has.

How big is the IMF’s fund?

Overall, the IMF has a total lending capacity of about $1 trillion.

When the IMF lends money, it draws on the pooled resources of its member countries. Wealthier and more stable economies often act as creditors, supplying the funds the IMF uses to provide loans. In return, these creditor countries earn interest on their contributions.

In 2024, about 50 creditor nations received approximately $5bn collectively in interest.

Which countries owe the most money to the IMF?

The amount of money owed to the IMF is typically expressed as Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the IMF’s own unit of account based on a basket of five currencies – the US dollar, euro, pound sterling, the Chinese renminbi and the Japanese yen.

While SDRs are not a currency, countries can exchange them for the currencies mentioned above. As of October 15, one SDR was equivalent to $1.36.

The IMF currently has the highest-ever total credit outstanding. The chart below shows how much money has been owed to the IMF over the past 40 years.

In total, 86 countries owe the IMF SDR 118.9 billion, roughly equivalent to $162bn.

The three countries that owe the most make up almost half of the total, while the top 10 countries owe 73 percent.

The chart below shows the 86 countries which owe money to the IMF, broken down by region.

Argentina owes the most to the IMF, with SDR 41.8 billion (about $57bn) in outstanding credit, followed by Ukraine with SDR 10.4 billion ($14bn) and Egypt with SDR 6.9 billion ($9bn).

Why does Argentina owe so much?

Argentina is the IMF’s largest borrower, with its debt exceeding the combined total of the following seven countries – Ukraine, Egypt, Pakistan, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Bangladesh.

In April, the IMF approved its 23rd programme to Argentina with a $20bn bailout programme to help prop up the economy.

Argentina’s history with the IMF is marked by repeated borrowing – it is the recipient of the most bailouts in the history of the IMF. In 2018, the country secured a $57bn loan – the largest in IMF history – to address fiscal imbalances after facing a currency crisis and double-digit inflation.

In October 2025, the Trump administration announced a $20bn financial support package for Argentina, aimed at stabilising the country’s economy before its October 26 midterm elections. The package includes a $20bn currency swap with Argentina’s central bank, providing US dollars in exchange for pesos to bolster the nation’s foreign currency reserves.

Why does Ukraine owe the IMF more than $14bn?

Ukraine’s economy tanked after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and its external debt is now more than double what it was before the war began. The country’s total government-guaranteed debt reached $152bn by the end of April, according to the Reuters news agency, with more than 70 percent ($108.4bn) constituting external obligations.

In March 2023, the IMF approved a four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) worth $15.5bn, which was part of a broader international support package to help stabilise Ukraine’s economy and support civilian spending and debt servicing due to the country’s high expenditure on weapons.

As of October, Ukraine has received $10.6bn out of the planned $15.5bn for 2023-2027 under the EFF arrangement.

Why does Egypt owe the third-most?

Egypt has had to borrow from the IMF on numerous occasions to stabilise its economy as a result of high debt and fiscal deficits. It has also faced shortages of foreign currency reserves and is tackling high inflation.

In 2016, the IMF approved programmes under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Egypt worth $11.9bn following longstanding economic issues in the shadow of the 2011 uprising, including an overvalued currency, slow growth and high unemployment. The aim of the IMF’s programme was to fix these issues via a flexible exchange rate and inflation control, raising taxes and cutting subsidies and wages.

In March, the IMF approved the disbursement of $1.2bn to Egypt after completing a fourth review of the country’s $8bn economic reform programme. Egypt reported that inflation had almost halved in February, helped by financial reforms taken as part of the IMF financial support agreement.

Which countries owe the IMF the most money as a share of their GDP?

While IMF loans run into the billions of dollars, they usually make up only a small part of a country’s total debt and gross domestic product (GDP).

As a share of GDP, the countries with the most debt to the IMF are: Suriname (13 percent), Central African Republic (9.4 percent), Argentina (8.3 percent), Barbados (7.4 percent) and The Gambia (6.95 percent).