ISIS claims two attacks on Syrian army after calling for opposition to its government

The Islamic State jihadist group claims responsibility for two attacks targeting Syrian army personnel in northern and eastern Syria, as the group signaled what it described as a new phase of operations against the country’s leadership.

The group says on its Dabiq news agency that it had targeted “an individual of the apostate Syrian regime” in the city of Mayadin in Deir al-Zor province using a pistol, and attacked two other personnel with machine guns in the northern city of Raqqa.

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

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

The latest incidents come two days after ISIS claimed responsibility for another attack in Deir al-Zor that killed a member of the Interior Ministry’s internal security forces and wounded another.