ISIS urges members to fight against Syria’s new government

The Islamic State jihadist group urges its fighters to confront Syria’s new authorities in its spokesperson’s first audio message in two years.

In a recording posted online, Abu Huzaifa al-Ansari said ISIS members in Syria must fight “the new Syrian regime, with its secular government and national army” and “make that their priority.”

The last time al-Ansari posted an audio message was in January 2024, when he urged ISIS supporters to kill Jews around the world in revenge for Israeli military operations in Gaza.

Since ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syria’s new authorities, who had links to the Al-Qaeda terror group, have sought to break from their radical past and present a moderate image. They are led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Last year, Syria joined the US-led coalition against ISIS and has been coordinating attacks against the group’s remnants in the country.

ISIS swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery.

Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed the defeat of ISIS in 2017, followed two years later by its defeat at the hands of Kurdish-led forces in Syria.

Last month, Syrian troops advanced against Kurdish forces, sparking questions over the fate of the ISIS prisoners held in Kurdish-run facilities.

Amid lingering doubts about security, Washington transferred more than 5,700 ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraqi prisons.

A camp that once held relatives of ISIS fighters has now been emptied — residents either left or were moved to a new location by the Syrian authorities.