An operation carried out by unidentified individuals resulted in the death of a soldier and a civilian. The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility on Saturday for two attacks targeting Syrian army personnel in northern and eastern Syria.
In a statement, the extremist group claimed to have shot dead a member of the Syrian system in the city of Mayadeen in Deir ez-Zor, while attacking two other soldiers with machine guns in the city of Raqqa. This follows a claim of responsibility two days prior for an attack in Deir ez-Zor that killed a member of the Ministry of Interior security forces and injured another. ISIS has conducted six attacks against government targets since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
A report by the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Office last week indicated that President Ahmed al-Sharaa was the target of five failed assassination attempts, along with two senior government ministers. In an audio message broadcast online by the group’s spokesman on Saturday, ISIS called on its members to fight the new Syrian government, marking the first such message in two years.
Syria joined the US-led international coalition against ISIS in 2025. The US-led military coalition launched operations against the terrorist group in 2014. Although ISIS suffered successive setbacks and was declared defeated in Syria in 2019, it has not completely vanished. Central US Command estimates that approximately 2,500 fighters remain in Syria and Iraq, carrying out sporadic attacks. Elements of the group retreated to the vast Syrian desert following the territorial collapse in 2014.
The US continues to announce strikes on ISIS sites in Syria, while Syrian authorities conduct security operations against affiliated cells. In January, Syrian forces advanced in areas previously under Kurdish control, raising questions about the fate of ISIS prisoners held by the Syrian Democratic Forces. The US transferred more than 5,700 suspects linked to ISIS from Syria to Iraq in February. The Al-Hol camp, which previously housed families of ISIS members, has been emptied, with residents either having left or been transferred by authorities to another camp in Aleppo.
