The Syrian Ministry of Defense stated in a Sunday press release that a member of the Syrian Army was targeted in the village of Al-Wasta, located in the northern countryside of Raqqa. According to the statement, reported by Al-Ikhbariya Syria, the attack was carried out by unidentified gunmen and resulted in the death of the army member alongside a civilian.
اضافة اعلان
On Saturday, ISIS claimed responsibility for two separate attacks targeting Syrian Army personnel in northern and eastern Syria. The extremist group stated in a communiqué that it targeted a "member of the Syrian regime" in the city of Al-Mayadin, Deir ez-Zor, using a handgun, and attacked two other army members with machine guns in northern Raqqa.
Two days earlier, ISIS claimed another attack in Deir ez-Zor that killed a member of the Internal Security Forces and wounded another. Since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, ISIS has carried out six attacks against Syrian government targets.
A report by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism last week revealed that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two senior cabinet ministers have been targeted in five failed assassination attempts by the militant group.
In its first audio message in two years, released online Saturday, an ISIS spokesperson urged members to fight the new Syrian government. Notably, Syria joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, led by Washington, in 2025.
The U.S.-led military coalition launched its campaign in 2014 against the terrorist organization, which has not entirely disappeared. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) estimates that approximately 2,500 fighters remain in Syria and Iraq, continuing to conduct intermittent attacks.
After seizing vast territories in 2014, the group suffered successive defeats until its territorial collapse in Syria in 2019. However, its remnants, who retreated into the expansive Syrian Desert (Badia), continue to carry out deadly operations.
The United States frequently announces strikes against ISIS positions in Syria, while Syrian authorities periodically conduct security operations against the group's sleeper cells.
In January, Syrian forces advanced into areas previously under Kurdish control, raising questions about the fate of ISIS detainees held in facilities managed by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). In February, Washington transferred more than 5,700 suspected ISIS prisoners from Syria to Iraq.
Meanwhile, the Al-Hol camp, which housed families of ISIS members, has been nearly emptied; some residents have departed, while others were transferred by authorities to a different camp in Aleppo.
