Islamic State Claims Two Attacks on Syrian Army, Announces ‘New Phase’ of Operations

AFP

Syrian army personnel standing in front of army's armored vehicles.

Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for two separate attacks targeting Syrian army personnel in northern and eastern Syria, announcing what the group described as a new phase of operations against the country’s leadership.

In a statement carried by its Dabiq news agency, IS said it targeted “an individual of the apostate Syrian regime” in the city of Mayadin in Deir al-Zor using a pistol, while attacking two other personnel with machine guns in the northern city of Raqqa.

Syria’s Defence Ministry confirmed in a statement that a Syrian army soldier and a civilian were killed by “unknown assailants” on Saturday. A military source told Reuters that the soldier belonged to the army’s 42nd Division.

The attacks come amid a sharp escalation by IS against Syria’s leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader who broke with the group in 2016 and subsequently led a coalition of Islamist factions that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024.

On Saturday evening, IS released a recorded statement from its spokesperson, Abu Hudhayfa al-Ansari, claiming that Syria had “moved from Iranian occupation to Turkish-American occupation.” The group said it had begun a “new phase of operations” in the country, describing Sharaa as a “watchdog” of the global coalition and vowing that his fate would be no different from that of Assad.

Sharaa had signed Syria’s accession to the global coalition to defeat IS during a visit to the United States last November, where he met with President Donald Trump.

The latest incidents follow another IS-claimed attack in Deir al-Zor two days ago, which killed a member of the Interior Ministry’s internal security forces and injured another. Several social media accounts and Telegram channels supporting IS have called for intensified attacks using motorcycles and firearms in recent hours.

Since the fall of Assad, IS has carried out six attacks against Syrian government targets. According to a report released last week by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, Sharaa and two senior cabinet ministers have been the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by IS.

Source: Reuters



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